jSS?y?SS!?5>Sw 


FEB  20  1919 


BR  370  .K45  1918 

Kelly,  Caleb  Guyer,  b.  188"; 

French  Protestantism,  1559- 

1562 


FRENCH  PROTESTANTISM,  1^^9-1^62 


Series  xxxvi  No.  4 

"jOHNS  HOPKINS  UNIVERSITY  STUDIES 

IN 

Historical  and  Political  Science 

Under  the  Direction  of  the 

Departments  of  History,  Political  Economy,  and 
Political  Science 


FRENCH  PROTESTANTISM 
1559-1^62 

BY 

CALEB  GUYER  KELLY 


BALTIMORE 

THE  JOHNS   HOPKINS  PRESS 

1918 


Copyright  191 8  by 
THE  JOHNS  HOPKINS  PRESS 


PRESS  OF 

THE  NEW  ERA  PRINTING  COMPANY 

LANCASTFR,  PA. 


CONTENTS 

I'AGB 

Preface    "^" 

Chapter        I.     Social  and  Economic  Forces 9 

Chapter      II.     The  Resources  of  the  Huguenots  ...  38 

Chapter    III.     The  Organization  of  the  Calvinists. .  69 

Chapter    IV.     The  Reform  at  Its  Height 88 

Chapter      V.     Friends  and  Foes  at  Home  and  Abroad  118 

Chapter    VI.     Guise  or  Valois ? I37 

Chapter  VII.     The  Arsenal  of  Protestantism 163 

Bibliographical  References    i79 

Index   i^3 


PREFACE 

The  brief  period  between  1559  and  1562,  interlacing  the 
reigns  of  Henry  II  and  of  two  of  his  sons,  Francis  II  and 
Charles  IX,  was  momentous  in  the  history  of  French 
Protestantism.  Consequently  studies  in  diplomacy  and  "  la 
haute  politique "  of  that  epoch  of  four  years  have  been 
vigorously  pursued,  but  the  social  and  economic  questions 
have  been  inadequately  treated.  Indeed,  much  of  the  real 
nature  of  the  reign  of  Henry  II  and  of  the  growth  of  the 
Reform  during  his  incumbency  is  obscure.  Nothing  like 
the  "  Catalogue  des  Actes  du  roi  Frangois  ler  "  as  yet  exists 
for  the  reign  of  Henry  II.  Therefore  it  has  seemed  to  the 
writer  eminently  desirable  to  begin  an  investigation  of  the 
development  of  Protestantism  through  the  operation  of 
social  and  economic  forces,  particularly  among  the  indus- 
trial and  working  classes.  The  economic  activity  of  the 
Huguenots  reveals  one  of  the  aspects  of  their  social  life, 
and  their  commerce  forms  one  of  the  great  chapters  in  world 
history.  xA.dequately  to  present  the  subject  of  their  eco- 
nomic work,  whether  agricultural,  industrial  or  commercial, 
two  factors  must  be  examined.  One  comprises  the  Hugue- 
nots themselves,  their  genius,  work,  and  capital,  and  the 
other  includes  the  nature  of  France, — its  plains,  mountains, 
waters,  and  coasts. 

The  unexplored  domain  of  the  Protestant  resources  has 
proved  alluring.  The  handful  of  EngHsh  works  and  even 
most  of  the  French  volumes  devoted  to  Protestantism  of  the 
sixteenth  century  treat  in  a  most  cursory  manner  this  vital 
phase  of  the  Reform.  An  exception  is  Professor  J.  W. 
Thompson's  "  The  Wars  of  Religion  in  France."  Biog- 
raphies rather  than  general  history  seem  to  have  occupied 
the  majority  of  the  writers  on  the  France  of  Louis  of  Conde 
and  Francis  of  Guise.     Nevertheless,  the  Huguenot  stamp 


vin 


PREFACE 


upon  the  home  industry  and  foreign  trade  of  France  is  un- 
mistakable and  indehble.  As  early  as  1546  the  Venetian 
ambassador  Cavalli  wrote  that  the  commerce  of  Paris,  "  le 
coeur  de  la  chretiente,"  was  very  great.  In  1560  the  streets 
of  Paris  "  were  cumbered  with  wagons,  mules,  and 
shoppers,"  while  there  were  40,000  silk  workers  at  Tours, 
and  10,000  metiers  at  Rouen.  In  1910-12  the  writer  col- 
lected convincing  evidence  in  Africa  and  the  Levant  that  the 
modern  colonial  France  may  be  traced  to  the  efforts  of  the 
hardy  Huguenot  mariners  of  Coligny.  As  a  modest  intro- 
duction to  an  important  subject  the  results  of  considerable 
inquiry  are  here  submitted. 

Grateful  acknowledgment  for  suggestive  criticism  is  due 
Professor  Nathaniel  Weiss  of  the  Bibliotheque  du  Protest- 
antisme  Frangais,  Paris,  Professor  James  Westfall  Thomp- 
son of  the  University  of  Chicago,  and  Professor  John 
Martin  Vincent,  of  the  Johns  Hopkins  University. 

Caleb  Guyer  Kelly. 
Baltimore,  May,  1918. 


FRENCH  PROTESTANTISM:  1^59-1562 


CHAPTER   I 
Social  and  Economic  Forces 

The  extravagance  of  Francis  I  and  of  Henry  II  staggers 
belief.  The  expenses  of  Francis  I  during  1540^  amounted 
to  5,174,000  hvres.  Three-fifths  of  this  sum  went  to  the 
royal  family.  One  million  livres  was  allotted  for  gifts  and 
the  good  pleasure  of  the  king,  while  half  that  sum  was  con- 
sumed in  the  upkeep  of  the  royal  tables.  "  Extraordinary 
expenses  not  listed "  and  "  menus  plaisirs "  accounted  for 
700,000  livres.  Guards  and  detectives  personally  attached 
to  the  sovereign  received  as  high  as  one-fifth  of  the  annual 
budget.  In  comparison  with  modern  times  the  standard  of 
exchange  in  the  sixteenth  century  in  France  was  the  livre 
tournois,  which  was  not  a  piece  of  money  but  a  value,  or 
representation  of  a  quantity  of  precious  metal.  This  varied 
through  the  Middle  Ages  from  98  grains  of  silver  in  1226 
to  II  in  1600.  The  gold  coin,  ecu  d'or,  in  1561  was  exactly 
equivalent  to  two  livres.  Accepting  Avenel's  estimate  that 
the  franc  of  Francis'  reign  would  be  equivalent  to  three  such 
today,  it  will  be  seen  that  of  $10,223,640  spent  by  the  sover- 
eign in  1540,  $6,133,184  was  squandered  by  the  immediate 
royal  household.^ 

Henry  II  wasted  four  hundred  thousand  ecus  d'or  within 
two  months  after  his  accession.  The  gabelle,  or  tax  on  salt, 
was  extended  to  Poitou,  Saintonge,  and  Guyenne,  raising 
terrible  revolts.     Henry  was  quite  "  liberal,"  giving  Guise, 

1  Baschet,  La  diplomatie  venetienne.    Paris,  1862,  p.  405. 

2  Levasseur,  Histoire  des  classes  ouvrieres  et  I'mdustrie  en  France 
avant  1789  (2d  ed.,  1903),  p.  37. 

9 


10  FRENCH    protestantism:    I559-I562  [418 

Montmorency,  and  St.  Andre  800,000  francs  at  one  time.^ 
Upon  Diane  de  Poitiers  (his  huntress  of  the  42d  Psalm!) 
the  king  lavished  unprecedented  gifts.  The  royal  "equi- 
page de  cerf"  comprised  forty-seven  gentlemen  and  four- 
teen valets,  or  64,755  livres  expense  annually.*  Often  the 
king  would  lead  the  court  to  Amboise  or  other  game  pre- 
serves, hunting  for  a  fortnight  at  a  time  in  order  to  escape 
the  importunities  of  the  army  officers  and  others  to  whom 
he  was  in  debt.  When  the  king  traveled,  it  was  with  a 
cavalcade  of  eight  hundred  horses.^ 

The  court  was  as  prodigal  as  King  Henry.  The  mar- 
riage of  Elizabeth  of  France  to  the  Infant  d'Espagne  cost 
950,000  ducats,  nearly  eight  million  francs,*'  but  the  dowries 
of  Elizabeth  and  the  duchess  of  Savoy  remained  unpaid 
until  eleven  years  after  Henry's  death.'^  Among  other 
examples  of  uxorial  extravagance  might  be  recounted  the 
93  livres  spent  on  sweet  waters  for  perfuming  the  linen  used 
at  one  of  Queen  Catherine's  pre-nuptial  banquets,  where 
there  were  served  21  swans,  9  cranes,  and  33  "  trubles  a 
large  bee,"  a  rare  species  of  mystic  bird.  Lippomanni,  the 
Venetian  ambassador,  remarked  that  a  man  at  the  court  was 
not  esteemed  wealthy  unless  using  thirty  costumes,  after 
different  patterns,  which  he  must  change  daily.  In  Henry's 
reign  pride  in  all  ranks  grew  with  the  increase  in  wealth  and 
the  discovery  of  the  Bolivian  mines  in  1545.  The  rapid 
succession  of  sumptuary  laws  showed  that  luxury  was  gen- 
eral, for  there  were  eight  such  between  1543  and  1570.® 
Some  ordinances  applied  to  every  one,  though  the  majority 
were  meant  to  check  the  extravagance  of  women.  By  the 
time  of   St.  Bartholomew's,    1572,  the  importation  of   all 

3  Baschet,  p.  434. 

*  Edouard  Bourciez,  Les  moeurs  polies  et  la  litterature  de  la  cour 
sous  Henry  II.    Paris,  1886,  p.  26. 

5  Pigeonneau,  Henri,  Histoire  du  Commerce  de  la  France,  2  vols., 
Paris,  188s,  vol.  II,  p.  57. 

«5  $4,708,200. 

"  Cabie,  Edmond,  L'Ambassade  en  Espagne  de  Jean  Ebrard,  seig- 
neur de  St.  Sulpice  de  1562  a  1565.     Paris,  1902,  p.  223. 

8  Baudrillart,  H.  J.  L.,  Histoire  du  luxe  prive  et  public  depuis 
I'antiquite  jusqu'a  nos  jours.    4  vols.,  Paris,  1880;  vol.  iii,  p.  438. 


419]  SOCIAL    AND    ECONOMIC   FORCES  II 

cloth,  linen,  velvet,  satin  damask,  taffeta,  gold  and  silver 
lace,  armor,  swords,  daggers,  and  tapestries  had  been  for- 
bidden.^ At  the  meeting  of  the  estates  of  Orleans  advocate 
Lange  of  the  Third  Estate  complained  of  "the  superfluity 
and  sumptuousness  of  the  dress  of  jurors,  which  surpassed 
all  the  effeminacies  of  the  Asiatic  and  ancient  sybarite." 

The  flaunting  arrogance  of  the  king's  treasurers  was  pro- 
verbial. One  superintendent  of  finances,  de  Cosse,  filched 
200,000  ecus  d'or  in  one  year.^"  Many  of  the  treasurers 
had  houses  and  even  chateaux  which  rivaled  the  king's  in 
elegance,  the  means  to  purchase  and  furnish  which  they  had 
secured  mainly  by  plundering  the  populace  and  cheating  the 
government.  One  official  who  was  hanged  owed  the 
equivalent  of  half  the  yearly  budget,  three  million  livres ! 

The  cloud  of  economic  discontent  hanging  over  Henry 
II's  unpopular  reign  broke  into  a  storm  by  1559.  "French 
finances  are  shattered"  wrote  Bishop  St.  Croix."  For  the 
nine  years  previous  France  had  been  under  four  times  the 
customary  financial  burden.  The  taille,  or  land  tax,  levied 
by  Louis  XII  averaged  600,000  ecus,  out  of  a  total  revenue 
of  two  millions. ^^  Francis  I  quintupled  the  taille  and  thus 
obtained  the  sum  of  five  million  ecus  yearly.  Under  Henry 
II  the  gabelle  and  other  taxes  supposedly  brought  six  and 
one-half  millions  ecus,  but  in  1559,  the  year  of  Henry's 
death,  the  receipts  showed  little  more  than  3,700,000  ecus 
with  which  to  meet  expenses  of  ten  millions. ^^  The  same 
year  "  loans  "  to  the  sovereign  amounted  to  fourteen  millions 
ecus.  Finances  were  so  low  that  the  king  tried  to  econo- 
mize on  Brissac's  army  in  Piedmont  in  1557."  "  In  sparing 
3000  francs  (a  month)  we  shall  acquire  100,000  livres'  dis- 
honor,"  said  the   commander.     The  humiliating  treaty  of 

8  Baudrillart,  vol.  iii,  p.  440. 

10  De  la  Barre-Duparcq,  Histoire  de  Henri  II.     Paris,  1887.  p.  n. 

11  St.  Croix,  Prosper  de,  Tous  les  Synodes  nationaux  des  Eglises 
reformees  de  France  (ed.  Jean  Aymon,  Rotterdam,  1710),  p.  176. 

12  Great  Britain,  Calendar  of  State  Papers  Foreign,  No.  1432,  Oct. 
5,  1560. 

i3L'H6pital,  Michel  de,  Oeuvres-completes    (ed.   Dufey,  5  vols., 
Paris,  1824-26),  II,  p.  36. 
1*  Duparcq,  Henri  II,  p.  50. 


12  FRENCH    protestantism:    I559-I562  [42O 

Cateau-Cambresis  was  indirectly  due  to  the  retrenchment 
poHcy.  Francis  of  Guise  hurried  back  from  Italy  in  Janu- 
ary, 1558,  and  instead  of  attacking  the  Spanish  and  English 
allies  in  Picardy,  by  a  sudden  stroke  of  genius  assaulted 
and  took  Calais,  and  swept  the  English  off  the  soil  of 
France.  Yet  this  same  army  of  Guise  was  supported  by 
public  subscription,  so  great  was  the  royal  debt. 

Money  was  frequently  "  loaned  "  to  King  Henry  by  the 
lords  and  ladies  of  the  court.  The  aristocracy  had  just 
fallen  on  evil  times.  It  groaned  under  poverty  at  the  very 
time  that  gold  from  North  America  was  quadrupling  prices 
and  the  Renaissance  was  fostering  a  love  for  luxury.  The 
nobles  had  had  to  follow  the  gloomy  King  Henry  about  for 
several  years  in  external  wars  of  disaster.  Some,  like  the 
constable  Montmorency,  were  bankrupt  from  paying  ran- 
soms amounting  to  100,000  francs,  or  double  that  sum.  The 
aristocracy  clung  desperately  to  the  tatters  of  medieval 
feudalism.  It  hated  to  see  the  old  order  disappear,  and 
pleaded  against  the  new  centralization.  It  gave  voice  to  its 
complaints  at  the  meeting  of  the  Estates  of  Orleans  and 
Pontoise,  in  1 560-1 561.  Aristocratic  rights,  it  said,  were 
being  encroached  upon  by  the  peasantry,  who  were  trying  to 
rise  in  the  economic  and  social  scale  at  the  expense  of  their 
superiors.  To  meet  this  rivalry  the  nobility  demanded  per- 
mission to  engage  in  every  line  of  commercial  activity  with- 
out losing  any  of  its  privileges. 

The  economic  discontent,  which  was  hastening  the  intro- 
duction of  the  Huguenot  faith,  waxed  still  more  acute  when 
the  frail  boy  Francis  ascended  the  throne.  To  the  astonish- 
ment of  the  Parlement  of  Paris,  one  of  the  king's  first  acts 
was  to  give  to  "the  Cardinal  of  Lorraine  and  his  brother 
Francis,  duke  of  Guise,  entire  charge  of  finances  and  the 
military,"  on  July  11,  1559.^^  Of  their  complete  usurpa- 
tion of  power  a  later  chapter  will  deal.  The  severe  taxes 
of  the  Guises  which  followed  were  rarely  used  to  alleviate 
conditions.     Even  the  infantry,   cavalry,  gendarmes,   and 

15  Archives  Nationales  (Paris),  K  1492,  No.  50,  Alva  to  Philip  II. 


42 1 ]  SOCIAL   AND   ECONOMIC    FORCES  13 

officers  of  justice  remained  a  long  time  without  pay.  Chan- 
cellor L'Hopital's  speech  before  the  Parlement  of  Paris, 
July  5,  1560,  reiterated  that  the  debt  of  the  crown  at  Francis 
II's  accession  totalled  43,700,000  livres  besides  interest,  while 
pensions  and  salaries  of  many,  particularly  gendarmes,  were 
five  years  in  arrears. ^"^  The  receipts  fell  short  of  the  ex- 
penses by  fourteen  and  a  half  million  livres.  With  no 
prospect  of  the  land  tax  in  any  section  being  lowered,  it 
would  take  the  crown  revenues  ten  years  to  meet  the  em- 
barrassment. The  debt  of  the  king  to  the  Genoese,  Ger- 
mans, Milanese,  Florentines  and  to  Lucca  amounted  to 
644,287  ducats. ^'^  When  Charles  IX  became  sovereign, 
before  Christmas,  1560,  he  began  to  spend  money  at  the 
rate  of  one  million  livres  a  month.^®  The  Estates  General 
at  Pontoise,  in  the  summer  of  1561,  was  held  for  the  specific 
purpose  of  finding  a  way  out  of  the  king's  financial  diffi- 
culties.^'' 

"  France  is  the  dearest  country  I  ever  came  in,"  wrote 
the  duke  of  Bedford  in  February,  1561.^''  Prices  were  fear- 
ful, indeed.  From  1525  to  1575  they  rose  without  any  stop 
and  with  marvelous  rapidity.  Gold  and  silver  averaged 
treble  their  value  of  today  so  that  some  of  the  staples  cost 
as  high  as  ninety  per  cent  more  than  today.  Nor  were  the 
variations  simple  fluctuations,  for  the  rise  and  fall  might  be 
triple  or  quadruple.  The  high  price  of  beef  in  the  six- 
teenth century  was  almost  a  calamity.  In  1500  meat  had 
been  abundant,  but  sixty  years  later  the  food  of  the  most 
prosperous  peasants  was  inferior  to  that  of  the  servants  at 
the  prior  date.^^  One  writer  said:  "In  the  time  of  my 
father  we  had  meat  every  day,  the  dishes  were  abundant. 
But  today  [1560]  all  has  changed."     At  Nimes  the  average 

16  Great  Britain,  Cal.  St.  P.  For.,  No.  763,  Dec.  3,  1560. 

17  Ibid.,  No.  1432,  Oct.  5,  1560. 
1^  Ibid.,  No.  430,  Sept.  11,  1561. 

13  La  Popeliniere,  La  vraie  et  entiere  histoire  des  troubles  et  choses 
memorables  avenues  tant  en  France  qu'en  Flandres  et  pays  circon- 
voisins,  depuis  'an  1^62-1=^77  (2  vols.,  Basle,  1579),  vol.  i,  p.  271. 

20  Great  Britain,  Cal.  St.  P.  For.,  No.  1031,  Feb.  26,  1561. 

21  Avenel,  Georges,  Paysans  et  Ouvriers  des  trois  derniers  siecles. 
Paris,  1910,  p.  193. 


14  FRENCH  protestantism:  1559-1562  [422 

consumption  of  meat  per  year  was  i>4  kilos  in  1560  against 
55  in  1900.  A  Languedoc  proverb  iterated  the  situation : 
"Ail  et  viande,  repas  de  richard,  ail  et  pain,  repas  de  pay- 
san."  Quadrupeds  had  the  right  to  pasture  but  seldom  the 
wherewithal  to  prosper.  In  some  provinces,  notably  Limou- 
sin, peasants  complained  that  they  were  deprived  of  the 
"right  of  the  second  grasses."  Before  a  notary  the  pro- 
prietor had  to  declare  that  he  did  not  intend  to  use  said 
fields  for  his  own  profit  and  would  not  use  them  except  from 
March  25  up  to  the  gathering  of  the  first  crop  of  grass.  On 
one  of  Charles  V's  journeys  across  France,  the  townsmen 
of  Malines  had  presented  to  the  king  with  much  pomp  and 
vain  glory  a  "vrai  phenomene,"  a  bull  weighing  one  thou- 
sand kilograms  !^^  Ordinarily  the  cows  and  beef  were 
mediocre,  save  in  Limousin  and  Lyonnais.^^  In  vain  the 
magistrates  besought  the  butchers  not  to  augment  the  price 
of  meat.  The  doleances  of  Normandy  contained  this  plain- 
tive note:  "The  poor  people  of  Normandy  are  just  now 
reduced  to  such  extremities  that  no  meats  are  obtainable ; 
therefore  they  are  trying  to  exist  on  fruits  and  cheese." 

Wheat  quintupled  in  price  from  1500  to  the  wars  of  re- 
ligion, while  the  revenue  from  the  land  was  only  two  and  one 
half  times  as  great.  The  hectolitre  (2%  bushels)  advanced 
from  four  to  twenty  francs.^*  The  irregularity,  so  common 
to  troubled  epochs  in  the  middle  age,  recommenced.  In 
1555  the  hectoHtre  sold  for  16  francs  in  Languedoc  and  30 
francs  in  Lille,  in  the  north.  In  1562  the  same  measure 
cost  all  the  way  from  i  franc  35  at  Caen,  to  33  francs 
at  Tulle.  At  Nimes  it  was  15  francs  and  at  Paris,  26. 
French  wheat  rose  from  an  average  of  8.08  francs  per 
hectolitre  in  1557  to  13.93  i"  15^2  and  20.70  in  1563.^^ 
During  peace,  in  1564,  it  dropped  to  7.85.  Avenel  quotes 
the  following  prices  in  seven  provinces : 

22  2313  lbs. 

23  Monteil,  Histoire  agricole  de  la  France.    Paris,  1870,  p.  175. 

2*  Avenel,  Decouvertes  d'Histoire  Sociale,  1200-1910.  Paris,  1910, 
p.  56. 

25  Avenel,  Histoire  economique  des  prix.  4  vols.,  Paris,  1894,  vol. 
ii,  p.  900. 


423]  SOCIAL   AND    ECONOMIC    FORCES  1 5 

Ile-de-  Nor-  Dauph-  Langue- 

France  mandy         Berry         Orleans  iny  Alsace  doc 

1525   3-8o  1.68         3-86         6.94         2.51  3.83  5-19 

1561    11.09  538        21.90        11.32        14.09        12.08        16.68 

The  prices  of  other  grains  per  hectolitre  exhibited  the  same 
fluctuations : 

Wheat  Rye  Oat»  Barley 

1525    4  francs    3.30  1.60  2.85 

1561    12  9.00  4.25  6.00 

These  variations  in  price  caused  the  workingmen  great 
misery,  especially  as  the  rise  or  fall  was  usually  sextuple. 
To  add  to  the  economic  embarrassment,  the  farmer  in  1560 
harvested  not  more  than  10  hectolitres  from  200  days'  work, 
as  compared  with  an  average  of  373^  hectolitres  from  300 
days  in  1912.^^  The  discrepancy  in  the  relative  number  of 
working  days  is  accounted  for  by  the  large  number  of  fete 
days  which  the  church  saw  fit  to  declare.  Since  the  work- 
ing man  observed  89  holy  days  and  52  Sundays,  his  en- 
forced idleness  amounted  to  two  days  out  of  five. 

Because  the  complex  variations  in  wheat  prices  made 
grain  too  costly  for  many  peasants  to  buy,  much  ground 
remained  untilled.  This  was  most  annoying,  as  every  place 
in  France  was  populated  as  much  as  was  possible  under 
Henry  II.  The  square  shape  of  the  country  is  commodious 
for  containing  the  greatest  population  and  for  supporting 
intensive  farming.  Always  considered  the  first  kingdom  in 
Christendom,"  France  boasted  the  richest  soil  in  Europe 
and  unlimited  agricultural  possibilities,  yet  was  suflfering 
want. 

Since  the  reign  of  Charlemagne  it  had  been  forbidden  to 
buy  the  fruits  of  the  earth  before  their  maturity ;  every  con- 
tract made  in  spite  of  this  was  void.  The  sale  of  wheat  in 
the  field  (en  vert)  was  considered  by  the  ecclesiastical 
tribunals  of  the  sixteenth  century  as  exactly  the  same  as 
usury.  Dealings  in  "  futures  "  were  therefore  relentlessly 
banned.  Minions  of  the  government  spied  upon  the 
harvesters  once  the  wheat  was  in  the  bins.     The  spectre  of 

26  Avenel,  Decouvertes,  p.  171. 

27  Relazione  de  Giovanni  Soriano,  p.  357- 


i6  FRENCH  protestantism:  1 559-1 562  [424 

speculation  caused  the  authorities  to  enact  severe  measures 
against  those  who  seemed  to  reserve  more  grain  than  they 
could  use.  It  was  forbidden  to  keep  grain  longer  than  two 
years  unless  for  private  consumption.-^  Such  a  move  could 
only  further  paralyze  activity  and  distribution.  Moreover, 
when  the  wheat  arrived  in  the  market  it  could  not  be  opened 
until  a  certain  hour.  Every  purchaser  had  to  prove  that  he 
bought  for  his  exclusive  use.  The  whip  and  even  prison, 
besides  heavy  fines,  awaited  those  who  risked  any  commer- 
cial enterprise  in  grain. 

The  greatest  restraint  in  the  grain  trade  consisted  in 
the  difficulty  of  communication.  Without  a  consideration 
of  the  roads  of  the  time  it  is  impossible  to  appreciate  the 
barriers  to  internal  commerce.  "  Le  Guide  de  Chemins " 
published  by  St.  Estienne  (1553),  described  the  great  French 
routes.  Though  the  kingdom  spread  some  576  miles  from 
Calais  to  the  Pyrennees,  and  494  from  Finisterre  to  the 
Vosges,  and  contains  an  area  of  over  two  hundred  thousand 
square  miles,  the  total  length  of  the  roads  was  about  15,625, 
as  against  half  a  million  today .-^  Two  thousand  bridges  of 
very  bad  construction  spanned  the  numerous  rivers.  The 
roads  were  mostly  in  the  natural  state.  The  records  show 
that  only  two  leagues  of  the  main  artery,  the  Orleans-Paris 
highway,  were  paved — Orleans  to  Cercotte.^"  An  ordinance 
of  February  15,  1556,  provided  for  the  paving  of  four 
more  leagues  on  the  same  road,  between  Toury  and  Artenay. 
Oaks  were  ordered  planted  along  the  routes  in  1553  by 
Henry  II.  Possibly  it  was  just  as  well  that  the  order  re- 
mained a  dead  letter,  for  the  shade  trees  would  have  still 
further  encouraged  the  robbers  and  bandits  who  infested 
the  roads  during  the  wars.  The  expenses  of  travel  were 
just  as  costly  as  they  were  in  the  fifteenth  century,  so  that 
the  transportation  of  grain  by  land  for  great  distances  was 
unthinkable.  A  short  trip  burdened  it  with  enormous 
charges.     A  hectolitre  of  wheat  in  transit  from  Amiens  to 


28  Avenel,  Paysans,  p.  145. 

^^  Levasseur,  Commerce,  vol.  i,  p.  185. 

30  The  league,  or  lieue,  varied  from  three  to  four  miles. 


425]  SOCIAL   AND    ECONOMIC    FORCES  I7 

Rouen,  130  kilometres,  was  taxed  one-third  of  its  value  in 
port  duties,  brokerage,  tolls,  and  customs.^^ 

Navigable  waterways,  in  spite  of  government  orders, 
were  nearly  always  obstructed  by  mills  or  encumbered  with 
toll  stations.  Of  the  latter  there  were  in  1562  no  less  than 
120  on  the  Loire,  the  longest  river  in  France.''"  As  boats 
plied  between  the  mouth  at  Nantes  and  Le  Moine,  518  miles 
inland,  the  produce  must  be  taxed  every  four  miles.  The 
Loire  tolls  alone  netted  over  fifteen  millions  francs  in  1570. 
Though  royal  edicts  in  the  sixteenth  century  suppressed 
many  toll  houses  along  the  rivers  Garonne,  Seine,  Loire, 
and  Rhone,  the  economic  situation  was  not  appreciably 
helped.  Each  boatload  of  salt  in  transit  from  Nantes  to 
Moulins,  on  the  Burgundian  Loire,  must  pay  four  times  its 
original  value.  The  rate  on  sugar  from  Bordeaux  to  Mon- 
tauban  on  the  Garonne  was  two  hundred  per  cent.  Skins 
and  spices  were  carried  up  the  Rhone  to  Lyons  at  a  still 
higher  charge.  In  ordinary  times  at  present  Dakota  wheat 
can  be  imported  into  Auvergne  for  one  per  cent  of  the  cost. 

Leonardo  da  Vinci,  multifarious  of  talents,  in  his  capacity 
as  engineer  taught  the  use  of  canals  to  the  French,  among 
whom  were  some  of  the  new  Lutheran  sect.  Following  the 
death  of  the  great  painter-geologist  in  15 19,  Adam  de  Cra- 
ponne  conceived  the  project  of  uniting  the  Saone  and  the 
Loire  with  a  canal.  Lyons,  seated  at  the  junction  of  the 
Saone  and  the  Swiss  Rhone,  might  have  been  reached  from 
the  upper  Loire  by  a  25-mile  canal.  Digging  began  in  1558 
but  was  terminated  abruptly  when  King  Henry  was  mortally 
wounded  by  the  lance  of  Montgomery  in  the  early  summer 
of  the  following  year.  A  40-mile  canal  would  have  sufficed 
to  connect  the  Seine  and  Saone  (Rhone)  systems,  near 
Dijon,  forming  a  north-to-south  artery  of  trade.  The 
Garonne  basin  in  the  sovithwest  might  even  have  been 
linked  to  that  of  the  Rhine  in  the  northeast  boundary  by 
three  canals  with  a  combined  extent  of  less  than  one  hun- 

"^  Avenel,  Decouvertes,  p.  171. 

*-  Levasseur,  Commerce,  vol.  i,  p.  187. 


i8  FRENCH  protestantism:  1559-1562  1^426 

dred  miles,  but  we  must  consider  this  period  without  serious 
artificial  waterways. 

The  surface  of  France  may  very  properly  be  likened  to 
that  of  England,  with  the  distinction  that  while  in  the  latter 
the  mountainous  tracts  are  in  the  north  and  west,  in  France 
they  occur  in  the  south  and  east.  All  the  great  rivers,  save 
the  Rhone,  flow  either  from  east  to  west  or  from  south  to 
north.  This  hydrographic  uniformity  of  itself  promoted 
the  exchange  of  produce  between  any  section  of  France. 
The  navigable  rivers  of  the  kingdom  traversed  seven  thou- 
sand kilometres  (4330  miles),  two-sevenths  of  the  road 
mileage  in  1558.  The  value  of  connecting  canals  was 
already  apparent.  Prominent  among  the  agitators  for  such 
projects  were  the  Calvinist  coteries  of  government  officials 
in  those  big  towns  which  would  profit  from  such  a  venture, 
notably  Lyons,  Orleans,  and  Montauban.  Were  Da  Vinci 
alive  today  the  fruition  of  his  thought  would  stand  revealed 
in  a  canal  system  of  twenty-three  thousand  miles — four 
times  the  distance  from  Calais  to  the  Mediterranean,  but 
these  dreams  were  unfulfilled  in  our  period. 

With  such  serious  defects  in  the  ways  of  communication 
and  the  means  of  transport  grain  could  scarcely  have 
traveled  at  all.  So  it  happened  that  with  two  good  crops 
in  succession  in  a  province,  the  price  fell  to  nothing,  while 
one  or  two  bad  seasons  brought  excessive  prices.  This 
double  embarrassment  occurred  in  the  same  region  every 
few  years,  or  during  the  same  year  between  two  regions 
only  a  little  distance  apart,  for  the  simple  reason  that  public 
opinion  in  those  days  practised  protection  on  a  plan  exactly 
contrary  to  that  of  today.^^ 

People  were  so  preoccupied  with  the  interest  of  the  con- 
sumer that  they  were  always  afraid  of  starving,  while  they 
seemed  to  care  little  about  the  lowering  of  prices,  which 
afifected  only  the  cultivator.  Some  of  the  city  governments, 
like  Nevers,  Magon,  Nerac,  and  Caen,  Pharaoh-like,  stored 
up  wheat   for  their   citizens   in  the   plentiful   years.     This 

33  Avenel,  Paysans,  p.  43. 


427]]  SOCIAL   AND   ECONOMIC    FORCES  I9 

hysterical  protection  extended  to  the  coast  provinces.  Forts 
to  keep  off  the  Algerine  pirates  from  Dauphiny  and  Langue- 
doc,  and  Spanish,  EngHsh,  and  Flemish  privateers  from  Gas- 
cony,  Saintonge,  Poitou,  Brittany,  Normandy,  and  Picardy 
might  be  built  on  one  severe  condition :  the  overlords  must 
promise  King  Henry  that  they  would  export  no  wheat  by 
sea!  Yet,  unless  the  owner  wanted  to  pay  one-third  the 
value  in  internal  duties,  the  grain  must  be  sent  by  water. 

Other  items  difficult  to  catalogue  swelled  the  expenses  of 
the  cultivator.  The  insatia'ble  greed  of  neighboring  prov- 
inces kept  the  grain  from  circulating  freely.  Though  their 
products  were  somewhat  diverse  the  adjoining  divisions  of 
Normandy  and  Brittany,  of  Berry  and  Burgundy,  erected 
effective  financial  barriers  to  mutual  intercourse.  The  gov- 
ernor of  each  province  levied  a  private  tax  on  the  grain  in 
transit  through  his  domain.  The  coastal  provinces  might 
not  send  wheat  abroad,  the  interior  provinces  were  pre- 
cluded from  interstate  commerce.  Even  intraprovincial 
commerce  in  cereals  was  prescribed  in  many  cases.  Worst 
of  all,  the  merchant  was  often  compelled  to  let  his  grain  go 
according  to  a  scale  of  prices  fixed  in  accordance  with  the 
good  pleasure  of  the  authorities.  This  again  was  protection 
in  conflict  with  the  public  interests  valued  by  modern  stand- 
ards. Many  provinces  remained  full  of  wheat  and  empty 
of  money. 

The  high  price  of  cereals  caused  the  peasant  to  put  a 
great  part  of  his  wealth  in  bread.  Avenel  has  estimated 
bread  as  two-fifths  of  the  workingman's  diet.^*  Least  of  all 
the  commodities  had  bread  increased  in  price  in  the  seven 
centuries  prior  to  the  sixteenth,  yet  it  cost  twice  as  much  in 
Henry  H's  day  as  under  President  Poincare.  In  a  peasant 
home  with  an  annual  expenditure  of  800  francs  of  food  a 
rise  of  one-third  in  the  price  of  bread  meant  an  extra  outlay 
of  no  francs.  It  varied  from  15  per  cent  in  well-to-do 
families  of  the  working  class  to  90  per  cent  in  very  poor 
families.     The  rich  ate  white  wheat  bread.     The  Parisians  ate 


3*  Avenel,  Deccuvertes,  p.  168. 


20  FRENCH    PROTESTANTISM:    I559-I562  [428 

white  bread  only  on  patron  saints'  days.  In  good  years  the 
workman  subsisted  on  "dogbread"  of  wheat  and  rye,  rye, 
barley,  millet,  and  buckwheat:  in  bad  years,  oat  bread.^^ 
According  to  his  financial  need  his  bread  ran  the  gamut  of 
colors :  white,  grey,  yellow,  brown,  and  black.  An  old 
Provengal  proverb  points  out  that  "  the  horses  who  plow  the 
oats  are  not  those  who  eat  them."  As  formerly  in  Russia, 
Roumania,  and  Egypt,  whose  inhabitants  had  scarcely  suffi- 
scient  to  eat,  there  were  exported  yearly  millions  of  bushels 
of  grain,  so  this  absurd  yet  true  condition  held  in  old  France, 
the  average  citizen  groaned  under  both  extremes  of  surfeit 
and  need. 

France  has  always  stood  first  in  wine  production.  Viti- 
culture was  introduced  into  Gaul  (Marseilles)  by  way  of 
Greece,  and  during  the  first  century  was  confined  to  the 
Allabroges  on  the  Rhine  and  to  the  Bituriges  on  the  Gironde. 
In  the  middle  ages  wine  was  the  usual  French  drink.  The 
vine  was  found  all  over  France  even  in  those  sections  where 
today  beer  and  cider  are  drunk.  Climatic  conditions  alone 
prevented  its  cultivation  in  the  departments  stretching  from 
Finisterre  to  Flanders.  The  traveler  will  recall  that  France 
is  of  a  gently  undulating  character,  so  important  for  the 
proper  exposure  and  ripening  of  the  white,  red,  and  black 
grape.  Much  of  the  soil  of  France  is  adapted  to  vineyards, 
being  clayey,  quartzose,  graveled,  and  silicious.  In  contrast 
to  the  climbing  vine  system  the  cultivators  used  the  dwarf 
plant  method. 

No  branch  of  agriculture  required  more  minute  attention 
or  paid  so  rich  dividends.  Cato's  remark  that  wine  is  the 
most  profitable  production  was  amply  borne  out  in  France 
prior  to  1560.  With  salt  it  was  one  of  the  favorite  sources 
of  government  revenue.  Fifteen  millions  yearly  rolled  into 
French  coffers  through  the  wine  trade.  The  prices  ob- 
tained overshadowed  even  the  receipts  from  the  Cyprus 
wines  of  Nicosia  and  Famagusta.  Bordeaux  as  always  was 
the  chief  distributing  port,  especially  to  those  foreign  and 

35  Baudrillart,  Luxe,  vol.  iii,  p.  440. 


4293  SOCIAL   AND    ECONOMIC   FORCES  21 

home  regions  where  the  mass  was  cele'brated.  Unlike  wheat 
and  the  general  cost  of  living  the  price  of  wine  fell  until 
1600,  a  sign  of  agricultural  progress.  But  wine  composed 
but  six  per  cent  of  the  expenses  of  the  working  class.  At 
the  outbreak  of  the  wars  the  beverage  rose  to  17  francs  per 
hectolitre;  in  the  centuries  since  it  has  decreased  by  13  per 
cent.^*^  Beer,  soaring  in  price  along  with  its  ingredients  of 
oats  and  barley,  rose  from  five  to  eighteen  francs  the  hecto- 
litre by  1560,  more  than  twice  the  present  cost.^'^  Flemish 
and  Frisian  beer  in  1560  cost  nine  times  as  much  as  three 
years  before.     Cider  varied  from  i  franc  50  to  14  francs. 

The  main  economic  hardship  was  that  the  best  white  wine 
sold  poorly  if  far  from  a  town,  while  the  cheapest  brand 
brought  too  liberal  prices  if  the  consumers  were  near  the 
place  where  it  was  raised.  A  worse  plight  was  precipitated 
in  1560.  To  the  dismay  of  many  towns,  which  opposed  the 
execution  of  the  Edict  of  Amboise  on  the  ground  that  wine 
and  the  vine  were  the  only  means  of  livelihood,  a  govern- 
ment octroi  was  laid  for  six  years  on  all  wines. ^^  The  rate 
was  fixed  at  five  livres  for  each  measure  of  wine,  a  terrify- 
ing move  in  such  troubled  times. ^^ 

Vegetables  and  spices  accounted  for  seven  per  cent  of  the 
total  expenses  of  the  workingman  of  1560.^°  Arable  land 
in  France  comprised  only  a  little  less  than  half  the  area  of 
the  kingdom,  and  gardening  was  circumscribed  by  the  small 
variety  of  vegetables.     It  would  be  anachronism  to  speak  of 

36  Avenel,  Decouvertes,  p.  168. 
3T  Avenel,  Paysans,  p.  202. 

38  Memoires  de  Claude  Haton,  p.  331. 

39  The  principal  places  producing  wine  were:  (Auvergne)  Thiers 
and  Limagne ;  (Berry)  Aubigne,  Issoudun,  Sancerre,  Vierzon ; 
(Blesois)  St.  Die,  Vineuil,  le  Grouets  de  Blois  ;  (Burgundy)  Auxerre, 
Beaune,  Coulanges,  Joigny,  Irancy,  Vermanton,  Tonnerre ;  (Cham- 
pagne), Ai,  Avenay,  Epernay;  (Dauphiny)  L'Hermitage ;  (Franche- 
Comte)  Arbois ;  (Guyenne)  Bordeaux,  Chalisse.  Grave,  Medoc ; 
(Ile-de-France)  Suresne,  Argenteuil,  Rueil,  St.  Cloud,  Soissons; 
(Languedoc)  Frontignan,  Gaillac,  Limoux ;  (Nivernais)  Pouilly  and 
Charite;  (Normandy)  Cassis,  la  Ciotat,  St.  Laurent;  (Touraine) 
Aml)oise,  Azay,  le  Feron,  Blere,  Bouchet,  la  Bourdaisiere,  Claveau- 
la-Folaine,  Mailly,  Mazieres,  Mt.  Richard,  Mt.  Louis,  Nazelles, 
Noissy,  Landes,  St.  Avertin,  Veret,  Vernon,  Vouvray.  Avenel, 
Paysans,  p.  209. 

40  Monteil,  p.  159. 


22  FRENCH    PROTESTANTISM:    I559-I562  [43O 

the  artichoke,  asparagus,  tomato,  melon,  and  eggplant  in  the 
reign  of  Francis  11.  Cabbage  did  not  appear  until  the  eigh- 
teenth century,  nor  did  potatoes  until  the  reign  of  Louis 
XVI.  Certain  vegetables  have  disappeared  or  lost  their  im- 
portance since  1560,  such  as  hemp,  poppy  leaves,  bovage 
leaves  eaten  as  salads.  Others,  like  hops,  beets,  and  tobacco 
appeared  for  the  first  time.*^  Flour,  peas,  beans,  and  lentils 
were  all  prominent  on  peasant  tables.  At  the  period  of  the 
religious  wars  peas  cost  12  francs  the  hectolitre  in  Langue- 
doc,  15  francs  in  Orleannais,  26  in  Dauphiny,  and  39  in 
Flanders.  Beans  and  peas  were  of  those  rare  merchandises 
which  simultaneously  dropped  in  price  and  diminished  in 
quantity.  The  ancient  oils,  appetizers  for  the  salads  of 
poppy  and  the  meagre  variety  of  other  vegetables,  cost  one- 
third  more  than  our  olive  oils  and  double  the  price  of  oils 
used  by  the  working  class  in  191 4. 

Dairy  products  were  especially  expensive,  though  much 
cheaper  than  meat.  Today  butter  and  milk  are  ten  per  cent 
cheaper  than  four  centuries  ago.  In  the  fifteenth  century 
butter  brought  49  to  60  centimes  the  kilo.^^  Under  Charles 
VI  and  Charles  VII  the  price  was  i  franc  50,  then  down  to 
half  a  franc  in  the  time  of  Francis  I.  Under  Charles  IX  it 
was  up  once  more  to  i  franc  25.  The  cows  gave  only  a 
pound  and  a  half  of  butter  a  week.  Milk  cost  thrice  as 
much  from  November  i  to  May  i  as  during  the  rest  of  the 
year,  because  the  cattle  were  milked  only  half  the  year. 
The  animals  had  the  right  to  pasture,  but  very  seldom  the 
means  to  prosper,  while  to  complicate  conditions  hay  was 
expensive. 

The  abstinence  of  the  Roman  Catholics  from  meat  during 
two  hundred  days  in  the  year  increased  the  cost  of  fish  to 
fifty  per  cent  more  than  nowadays.  Interior  provinces  like 
Burgundy  and  Limousin  were  forced  to  consider  sea  fish  a 
luxury.  When  an  occasional  mail  courier  drew  rein  in  the 
inland  villages,  the  citizens  found  in  one  saddlebag  letters, 
in  the  other,  fresh  fish.     The  bourgeois  ate  salted  fish,  while 

*i  Monteil,  p.  159.  1 

*2  Avenel,  Paysans,  p.  195. 


431 U  SOCIAL   AND   ECONOMIC    FORCES  23 

the  well-to-do  bought  river  fish.  The  citizens  ate  only 
tencle,  perch,  and  barbeau,  while  the  poor  used  barbillons 
and  grenouilles.  In  1559  there  were  a  great  many  brooks 
and  small  streams  now  long  since  dried  up.  The  few  canals 
in  existence  were  also  stocked  with  fish.  Even  with  these 
sources  the  demand  always  exceeded  the  supply.  Trout, 
carp,  pike,  salmon,  and  all  other  inland  fish  were  much  dearer 
than  now.  Whereas  fresh  salmon  cost  25  francs  the  hecto- 
litre, the  salt  and  smoked  variety  might  be  had  for  three 
francs  fifty.*^  Trout  brought  five  francs.  Huguenot 
sailors  from  Rochelle,  St.  Malo,  and  Boulogne  were  just 
opening  up  the  Newfoundland  and  St.  Pierre  fishing  grounds 
in  the  new  world  simultaneously  with  the  efforts  of  the 
Dauphinese  and  Languedoc  fisherman  ofif  the  western  and 
northern  coasts  of  Moslem  Mauretania.  Unfortunately,  it 
was  not  possible  to  transport  sea  fish  to  any  distance,  though 
the  price  was  reasonable  in  the  coast  towns.  In  1560  a 
lover  of  piscatorial  dainties  at  Cherbourg  or  Bordeaux  could 
buy  four  soles,  two  skates,  two  eels,  two  mackerel,  a  millet 
and  a  plaice  for  fifty  cents.  Cuttle  and  herring  also  were 
cheap,  but  fish  accounted  for  but  three  per  cent  of  the 
working  man's  expense.**  Avenel  cites  the  case  of  the 
millers'  boys  employed  near  the  Atlantic  and  Mediterranean 
shores,  who  stipulated  in  their  contracts  that  they  should  not 
be  compelled  to  eat  sea  salmon  more  than  twice  a  week,  in- 
cluding holy  days.  The  inland  provinces  were  also  dis- 
criminated against  with  reference  to  the  oyster  trade.  Five 
dozen  shelled  oysters  might  be  purchased  for  51  centimes: 
in  their  shells  3  francs  was  charged  for  the  same  quantity. 
Oysters  in  barrels  cost  three  times  as  much  in  the  time  of 
Francis  II  (5  francs  the  hundred),  as  in  the  fourteenth 
century;  in  shells,  9  francs  50,  the  same  as  in  1912. 

Birds  were  often  found  on  the  tables  of  the  poor  in  the 
sixteenth  century,  especially  the  swan,  stork,  rook,  bittern, 
and  cormorant.  The  upper  classes  ate  with  more  relish 
a  different  variety.     When  Charles  IX  reached  Amiens,  in 

*3  Avenel,  Paysans,  p.  204. 
•♦■*  Ibid.,  p.  204. 


24  FRENCH  protestantism:  1 559-1 562  [432 

Picardy,  on  his  epoch-making  tour  of  the  provinces,  he  was 
presented  with  a  dozen  turkeys,  besides  grey  capons,  pea- 
cocks, herons,  pheasants,  and  quail.*'^  France,  however, 
was  not  sufficiently  attractive  as  an  aviary  and  preserve  to 
suit  the  fastidious.  Flanders  contributed  larks;  Austria, 
partridges,  hares  and  deer;  Italy,  quail;  England,  pheas- 
ants; Russia,  reindeer.  In  1914  the  arrivals  of  game  in 
France  were  only  iioo  tons  native  and  450  imported,  while 
the  quantity  of  domestic  poultry  alone  equalled  21,000  tons. 
A  similar  ratio  would  have  existed  in  the  sixteenth  century, 
had  the  wishes  of  the  citizens  availed.  Chickens  were  not 
plentiful,  but  eggs  cost  one-half  as  much  as  modern  eggs. 
Before  1560  a  dozen  eggs  were  sold  for  less  than  the  cost  of 
one  egg  in  the  United  States  today.  Fruits,  as  well  as 
vegetables,  improved  in  France  after  St.  Louis  and  other 
French  crusaders  returned  from  their  quests.  From 
Rhodes,  Cyprus  and  Tarsus  came  the  cherry  ;  from  Armenia, 
the  apricot ;  from  Persia  and  Palestine,  the  peach  and  prune ; 
figs,  apples,  pears,  and  sugar  were  also  common  in  the  six- 
teenth century. 

Many  revolts  disturbed  the  various  sections  France  as 
a  result  of  the  imposition  of  gabelles  and  other  special  taxes 
upon  salt.  The  impost  varied  in  different  provinces,  from 
simple  to  quadruple.  The  great  number  of  partial  exemp- 
tions by  the  government  availed  but  little  to  assuage  popular 
indignation  at  the  unreasonable  price  of  this  necessary  com- 
modity. Up  to  the  sixteenth  century  in  France,  even  in 
Franche-Comte  and  Lorraine,  almost  the  whole  of  the  salt 
in  commerce  was  produced  from  the  evaporation  of  sea 
water,  and  the  processes  of  refining  remained  rudimentary 
for  a  long  time.  In  1560  vast  resources  of  springs  and 
rock  salt  deposits  lay  undiscovered  or  unworked. 

Firewood,  in  the  comparative  absence  of  important  coal 
deposits  in  France,  was  rapidly  increasing  in  cost.  Though 
the  artificial  or  ornamental  plantations  of  the  kingdom  were 
much  fewer  in  number  than  those  of  England,  its  natural 

*5  Baudrillart,  Luxe,  vol.  iii,  p.  440. 


433]  SOCIAL    AND   ECONOMIC   FORCES  25 

forests  were  far  more  numerous.  One-sixth  of  the  surface 
of  the  country  was  wooded,  with  forests  in  almost  every  de- 
partment. Lower  Normandy,  the  Orleannais  and  the  moun- 
tainous boundary  of  France  on  the  side  of  Switzerland 
abounded  in  trees.  Today  the  French  forests  represent  a 
value  of  three  billions  of  francs,  but  in  1551  there  was  a  fine 
for  cutting  down  trees  except  by  the  lord  and  his  subjects 
for  their  own  use.*''  No  fuel  might  thus  be  purchased  by 
the  unwooded  sections  of  France  during  frigid  seasons  such 
as  the  winter  of  1562.  At  Gray,  in  Franche-Comte,  a  fine 
was  levied  on  two  poor  men  who  cut  down  a  tree  which 
they  thought  was  dead.  A  century  before  the  peasants 
could  have  felled  it  for  sale.  The  season  of  "  pacage " 
(cutting)  lasted  in  most  forests  only  from  March  15  to 
October  5.  In  some  places  the  peasants  revolted  (1525- 
1579)  because  the  wood  of  the  forest  fell  entirely  into  the 
hands  of  ecclesiastics,  who  had  not  paid  the  overlord  for  it. 
The  people  of  Jumieges  and  Braquetuit  in  Normandy  main- 
tained in  a  process  of  1579  that  the  forest  was  common  to 
them  and  to  the  abbey  to  whom  it  nominally  seemed  to  be- 
long: that  by  means  of  a  sol  per  year  and  by  family,  they 
had  then  the  rights  of  pasture,  of  firewood,  and  of  the 
acorns  for  their  swine.*^ 

Wearing  apparel  is  much  cheaper  today  than  it  was  in 
1560.  Changes  in  the  mode  increased  the  expense.  There 
was  more  difference  in  the  exterior  dress  of  a  contemporary 
of  Louis  XI  and  one  of  Charles  VIII  than  between  two 
citizens  of  the  times  of  Napoleon  and  Poincare.  The 
workman  spent  a  good  share  of  his  money  on  clothes.  To 
get  a  woolen  dress  or  suit  in  the  time  of  the  early  Valois 
cost  one  hundred  francs  or  one-eighth  of  his  wages.*^  Very 
little  linen  was  used  because  it  was  twice  as  expensive  as 
today.  Headgear  now  is  more  democratic  and  less  expen- 
sive. In  Francis  II's  reign  a  beaver  hat,  edged  with  silk  or 
gold,  cost  one  hundred  francs  (present  money)  while  a  felt 


*6  Avenel,  Paysans,  p.  42. 

47  Avenel,  Decouvertes,  p.  68. 

48  Ibid.,  p.  182. 


26  FRENCH    protestantism:    I559-I562  [434 

hat,  with  pearls,  was  worth  eighty  dollars  of  modern 
coinage.*'' 

Stockings  were  too  expensive  for  any  but  the  rich.  Cloth 
goods  were  much  the  same  as  today.  Shoes  on  the  other 
hand  were  very  cheap.  Sabots  cost  only  14  to  38  centimes. 
Footwear  of  the  middle  and  noble  classes  was  just  as  in- 
expensive. At  Romorantin  in  1558  the  "  escarpins  "  of  the 
soldiers  were  valued  at  only  i  franc  16.  The  workingman 
need  spend  only  one-twentieth  of  his  dress  money  on  shoes. 
Towels  were  unknown,  and  bed  clothes  were  little  used  in 
poor  families. 

M.  Paul  Lacroix  writing  with  reference  to  the  costume 
prevalent  in  France  claims  that  a  distinct  separation  between 
ancient  and  modern  dress  took  place  as  early  as  the  six- 
teenth century.^"  In  fact  our  present  fashions  may  be 
said  to  have  taken  their  origin  from  about  that  time.  It 
was  during  this  century  that  men  adopted  clothes  closely 
fitting  to  the  body, — overcoats  with  tight  sleeves,  felt  hats 
with  more  or  less  wide  brim  and  closed  boots  and  shoes. 
The  women  also  wore  closely  fitting  dresses  with  tight 
sleeves.  When  Henry  of  England  had  the  famous  meeting 
with  Francis  I  in  1540  he  was  apparelled  in  "a  garment  of 
cloth-of-silver  damask,  ribbed  with  cloth-of-gold,  as  thick 
as  might  be ;  the  garment  was  of  such  shape  and  make  as 
was  marvellous  to  behold." 

The  French  king  was  attired  in  equal  splendor.  France 
was  always  ready  to  borrow  from  every  quarter  anything 
that  pleased  her,  yet  never  failed  to  place  her  stamp  upon 
whatever  she  adopted,  so  making  any  fashion  essentially 
French.  The  nobles  and  courtiers  of  each  country  were 
careful  to  emulate  their  sovereigns  in  their  attire,  and  in 
wearing  several  gorgeous  costumes,  all  of  them  in  the  same 
style  of  fashion,  every  day.  A  man  at  court  was  not 
esteemed  wealthy  unless  using  thirty  costumes  after  dif- 
ferent patterns.     In  Henry's  reign  pride  in  all  the  estates 

*9  Avenel,  Paysans,  p.  250. 

50  Lacroix,  Paul,  Moeurs,  usages  et  costumes  au  moyen  age  et 
a  I'epoque  de  la  Renaissance.     Paris,  1871,  p.  11. 


435]  SOCIAL   AND    ECONOMIC    FORCES  27 

grew  with  more  wealth.  The  villagers  wanted  to  dress  like 
townsmen.  The  costume  of  the  middle  and  the  hmnble 
classes  bore  a  decided  general  resemblance  to  the  elaborate 
and  costly  attire  of  the  dignified  and  wealthy  of  their  con- 
temporaries. They  wore  the  same  short  close  jerkin,  the 
short  doublet,  often  with  loose  sleeves,  the  short  cloak,  the 
flat  round  cap  plainly  made  from  simple  materials,  and  the 
tight  leggings  and  broad  shoes  with  puffed  upper  hose.  The 
high  cost  of  living  and  dressing  aggravated  the  economic 
situation,  and  made  the  French  Reform  doubly  certain. 

A  terrible  factor  in  the  France  of  the  sixteenth  century 
was  the  bubonic  plague.  In  the  previous  century  it  had 
frequently  appeared  in  every  part  of  Europe.  Again  in  the 
period  of  the  religious  wars  the  pest  recurred  with  grim 
persistence,  but  the  populace  was  often  more  afraid  of  the 
headache  than  of  the  characteristic  red  eyes  and  swollen 
tongues.  Sanitation  and  sewerage  were  foreign  to  that 
century.  The  environment  for  the  development  of  bacteria 
outside  the  body  was  pitifully  favorable.  Marsh  lands 
were  never  drained  and  decaying  matter  near  the  houses 
was  piled  high,  so  that  the  plague  was  ably  seconded  by  its 
nearest  ally,  typhus  fever.  Nimes  experienced  the  plague 
thirty-three  times  in  three  hundred  years,  together  with 
leprosy  in  iSSS.''^  The  number  of  Protestants  in  Orleans 
had  been  greatly  diminished  when  Throckmorton,  the  Eng- 
lish ambassador,  was  there  as  Coligny's  guest.  In  May, 
1 561,  the  plague  was  ravaging  Paris,  Lyon,  Dijon,  Magon. 
Sens,  Troyes,  Chalon,  and  Bray.^^  At  Provins  the  town 
counsellors  elected  barbers,  guards,  and  a  gravedigger.  Few 
of  those  smitten  with  this  most  rapidly  fatal  of  diseases 
escaped.  The  Prince  of  Conde  records  that  practically 
every  village  and  town  was  afiflicted  by  August,  1562.^^ 
Just  after  the  fall  of  Rouen  in  October  of  the  same  eventful 
year,  the  plague  was  raging  in  the  royal  army.     The  same 

51  Delaborde,  Comte  J.,  Vie  de  Coligny,  Paris,  1882,  p.  120. 
52Haton,  Claude,  Memoires,  1563-1582.    2  vols.,  Paris,  1857;  vol. 

J.  P-  224.  .. 

53  Memoires  de  Conde,  1559-1610.     6  vols.,  London,  1743 ;  vol.  11, 
p.  20. 


28  FRENCH  protestantism:  1559-1562  [43^ 

malignant  enemy  conquered  the  English  army  in  Havre, 
causing  its  surrender  in  July  28,  1563.  In  the  streets  the 
victims  reeled  like  drunken  men,  often  expiring  in  their 
tracks.  During  1562  the  weekly  mortality  averaged  more 
than  a  thousand.  Even  the  gravediggers  died  from  the  con- 
tagion. The  year  of  St.  Bartholomew's  50,000  died  in  the 
single  city  of  Lyon.  The  provinces  which  suffered  most 
were  Bas-Languedoc,  Provence,  Lyonnais,  Burgundy,  Cham- 
pagne, Ile-de-France,  and  Normandy.  The  west  and  south- 
west seemed  exempt.^*  The  infection  followed  the  trade- 
routes,  for  Toulouse,  Lyon,  Chalons-sur-Marne,  Chalons- 
sur-Saone,  Magon,  Langre,  Bourges,  La  Charite,  Orleans, 
Tours,  Moulins,  Sens,  Melun,  Dijon,  Troyes,  Soisson, 
Beauvais,  Pontoise,  Paris,  Rouen,  Chateau-Thierry,  and  the 
Norman  ports  suffered  more  than  others.^^  The  pestilence 
was  introduced  into  Languedoc  through  Spain,  and  was  at 
its  height  in  July,  1554.  Those  exposed  to  infection  carried 
white  wands.^'^ 

Of  social  conditions  poverty  has  by  far  the  most  powerful 
influence  on  the  spread  of  plague.  The  pestilence  is  sub- 
ject to  the  law  of  periodicity  or  definite  outbreaks,  whether 
appearing  on  the  Euphrates,  the  Volga,  or  the  Seine.  In 
France  the  recurrence  usually  followed  years  of  famine, 
and  naturally  the  lower  classes  succumbed  most  readily. 
The  victims  of  the  upper  classes  were  for  the  most  part 
barber-surgeons,  clergy,  and  officials  whose  occupations 
took  them  among  the  sick.  Though  there  were  only  three 
years  of  exorbitant  prices  for  grain  and  wine  in  Henry  IPs 
reign,  drought  and  frosts  often  played  havoc.  In  1547  oc- 
curred terrible  frosts,  along  with  the  plague."  The  drought 
of  1557  was  added  to  the  alarm  and  grief  over  the  suc- 

^*  DeVic  et  Vaissette,  Histoire  Generale  de  Languedoc  (new  edi- 
tion in  course  of  publication),  vol.  xi,  p.  447.    Paris,  1733-45. 
^5  Haton,  vol.  i,  p.  332. 

56  Great  Britain,  Cal.  St.  P.  For.,  No.  824,  Nov.  20,  1580. 

57  Mandet,  Histoire  des  Guerres  civiles,  politiques,  et  religieuses 
dans  les  montagnes  du  Velay  pendant  le  i6e  siecle.  7  vols.,  Le  Puy, 
i860,  vol.  I,  p.  63. 


437]  SOCIAL   AND   ECONOMIC   FORCES  29 

cession  of  Philip  11."^  The  earth  produced  very  little. 
Eggs  were  10  deniers  apiece.  The  spring  of  1562  augured 
well,  and  Haton  remarked  that  the  vines  promised  grapes 
and  raisins  more  abundantly  than  for  six  years.  In  April 
and  May  the  'bunches  were  over  a  foot  long,  and  hopes  were 
high  that  the  tuns  would  be  filled.  However,  cold  and  con- 
tinuous rains  destroyed  all  the  crops.  Though  there  had 
been  a  warm  spring  the  rains  were  colder  than  ice.  On 
June  24  it  rained  and  snowed  and  became  so  cold  that  the 
heaviest  garments  were  of  no  avail  outdoors.  As  a  result 
only  one-third  the  usual  wine  supply  materialized  and  the 
wheat  was  ruined.  The  people,  out  of  work  and  complain- 
ing, believed  that  "  all  this  showed  the  ire  of  God,  to  which 
was  added  the  contagious  pests  all  over  France. "^^ 

The  possessors  of  soil  in  the  sixteenth  century  became 
rich,  while  the  proletariat  became  poor  in  an  unheard-of 
fashion.  This  was  partly  due  to  the  fact  that  wages  were 
proportionate  to  the  movement  of  the  population  or  the  ex- 
tent of  vacant  land.  Science  had  not  yet  broken  the  old 
equilibrium  between  the  earth,  population,  and  its  products.*'** 
Not  all  Frenchmen  collectively  would  have  been  less  rich, 
but  individually  they  would  have  been  poorer,  had  France 
been  peopled  by  only  one  million  in  1560.  Levasseur  and 
Merimee  assert  that  economically  France  could  have  sup- 
ported twenty  millions  of  population  in  the  sixteenth  cen- 
tury. In  1560  the  Venetian  ambassador  said  there  were 
sixteen  millions  in  France.*'^  A  Venetian  syndicate  inter- 
ested in  the  country  in  1566,  more  reliable  than  most  cal- 
culators, estimated  the  population  as  between  fifteen  and 
sixteen  millions.*'-  During  the  wars  the  population  began 
to  decrease,  after  a  rise  since  1553. 

The  worka'ble  hectare  of  land  rose  in  price  from  475 

=8  Felibien,  Histoire  de  la  ville  de  Paris.  5  vols.,  Paris,  1725;  vol. 
ii,  p.  1059. 

59  Haton,  vol.  i,  p.  331. 

♦'o  Avenel,  Paysans,  vol.  viii,  p.  8. 

81  Pigeonneau,  p.  173. 

*2  Relations  des  ambassadeurs  Venetiens.  15  vols.,  Paris,  1838; 
vol.  iii,  p.  149. 


30  FRENCH  protestantism:  1 559-1 562  [438 

francs  (1501-1525)  to  723  francs  (i55i-i575)-  In  1560 
the  hectare  ranged  from  18  to  723  francs.*'^  The  gradation 
in  revenue  was  from  30  centimes  to  72  francs.  Property 
did  not  depreciate  so  much  in  those  provinces  wholly 
Catholic  or  exclusively  Protestant,  where  the  fighting  was 
least,  like  Languedoc.  The  mean  hectare  averaged :  North 
(Ile-de-France,  Picardy,  Artois),  263  francs;  Midi  (Lan- 
guedoc, Dauphiny,  Venaissin),  268  francs;  East  (Lorraine, 
Champagne,  Bourgogne),  333.  In  the  center  of  France 
where  the  fighting  was  thickest  (Orleans,  Limousin,  Berry, 
Auvergne)  it  fell  to  200  francs.^*  In  comparing  the  revenue 
from  the  hectare  of  ground  to  the  price  of  the  hectolitre  of 
grain  since  1590,  grain  had  quintupled  while  the  revenue  of 
land  was  only  two  and  a  half  times  as  great.  The  relative 
insecurity  of  exploitation  affected  especially  the  Calvinists 
and  Lutherans,  who  in  many  districts  received  much  the 
same  treatment  as  the  modern  Armenian  Christians  in 
Turkey.  A  decade  after  the  outbreak  of  the  wars  the 
maximum  price  of  the  hectare  of  ground  was  3000  francs, 
the  minimum,  13.  Four  hectares  of  the  first  and  eighth 
arrondissements  of  Paris  (near  the  Madeleine)  were  worth 
160  francs  in  the  reign  of  Francis  I,  5600  in  1552,  606,000 
in  1775  and  40,000,000  in  1900.*''^ 

In  the  fifteenth  century  at  Paris  some  houses  were  falling 
into  ruins,  but  with  the  sixteenth  there  was  a  change,  not 
only  in  prices,  but  also  in  the  houses  to  which  they  apply. 
The  jump  of  the  figures  is  almost  brusque.  The  suburban 
trend  was  evident  even  in  the  middle  of  the  sixteenth  cen- 
tury. In  1550  there  were  so  many  empty  houses  in  Paris 
that  the  king  forbade  the  building  of  more  in  the  suburbs, 
while  the  population  was  one-seventh  the  present  census  of 
2,888,000.  Much  as  the  common  people  were  disgusted 
over  the  high  prices  in  1560,  the  figures  rose  by  leaps  and 
bounds  by  1600.  A  section  of  14,000  houses  in  Paris  valued 
at  a  fifth  of  a  billion  of  francs  in  the  preceding  century,  was 

^^  Avenel,  Histoire  economique  des  prix,  vol.  ii,  p.  889. 
^*  Avenel,  Histoire  economique  des  prix,  vol.  ii,  p.  340. 
^5  Ibid.,  Decouvertes,  p.  118. 


439]  SOCIAL   AND    ECONOMIC   FORCES  3 1 

appraised  at  1,482,000,000  francs  in  1610.^°  Building  lots 
which  cost  two  francs  the  metre  in  the  day  of  Henry  11  are 
sixty-five  times  as  valuable  in  1914. 

Formerly  the  authorities  of  France  gave  attention  to 
wages  only  to  reduce  them,  the  laws  regularly  'being  far 
more  favorable  to  the  employers  than  to  the  employed.  In 
the  history  of  wages  is  the  history  of  four-fifths  of  French- 
men four  centuries  ago,  who  at  birth  signed  a  pact  with 
manual  labor,  and  sold  their  lives  in  order  to  live.  The 
fifteenth  century  had  been  most  advantageous  for  wages, 
when  the  lands  had  been  useless  and  fallen  almost  to  nothing. 
The  sixteenth  century  witnessed  the  triumph  of  landed  pro- 
prietors and  the  rout  of  manual  workers.  The  lowering  of 
wages  was  not  sudden,  or  the  result  of  a  catastrophe  or 
public  crash.  It  applied  to  all  professions  and  proceeded 
insensibly  like  a  retiring  tide."^ 

The  laborer  of  the  sixteenth  century  had  but  half  to  live 
on  as  compared  with  his  ancestor  between  1400  and  1500."'' 
The  price  of  work  rose  33  per  cent,  but  the  cost  of  living, 
200  per  cent!  The  relative  values  of  precious  metals  re- 
mained triple  ours  of  today.  In  1560  there  was  thirty-six 
times  as  much  silver  as  gold,  thanks  to  Central  and  South 
American  sources.  Back  in  the  fourteenth  century  living 
had  been  one-third  of  the  cost  of  today;  in  the  fifteenth, 
one-sixth.  Then  gold  and  silver  brought  it,  in  the  sixteenth, 
up  to  one-fifth  of  the  present  cost.  It  has  been  estimated 
that  a  day's  work  under  Aristophanes,  in  400  B.  C,  broughL 
half  a  franc  (half  a  drachma),  just  as  two  thousand  years 
later,  under  Louis  XIII.*'''  The  day  laborers  in  the  towns 
received  3  francs  60  under  Charles  VIII,  2  francs  90  under 
Henry  IV.^"  Deducting'  the  multitudinous  holidays  the 
farm  hand  of  1500  averaged  an  earning  of  306  francs  per 
annum.  By  the  time  the  religious  wars  were  devastating 
the  country  his  yearly  income  had  fallen  to  150  francs.     Pro- 


^6  Avenel,  Decouvertes,  p.  118. 
^'' Avenel,  Paysans,  p.  156. 

68  Avenel,  Decouvertes,  p.  150. 

69  Ibid.,  p.  14. 

'^o  Avenel,  Paysans,  p.  25. 


32  FRENCH    protestantism:    I559-I562  [440 

portionately  to  the  number  of  hectares  cultivated  there  were 
more  hands  in  the  country,  because  there  was  more  need 
for  its  culture.  Then,  too,  many  of  the  harvesters  and  hay- 
makers were  often  town  weavers,  who  left  the  spinning 
wheel  or  shuttle  for  the  fork  or  sickle,  according  to  the 
seasons.  From  1200  to  1500  the  wages  of  the  servant  were 
based  on  187  days'  hard  labor,  maximum,  and  150,  mini- 
mum, with  food.'^^  The  town  servant's  stipend  faded  from 
282  francs  in  1500  to  120  francs  a  century  later.  The  rural 
servant  who  received  138  francs  yearly  under  Francis  I 
saw  this  wage  dwindle  to  73  francs  at  the  close  of  the  wars 
of  religion.  During  the  first  half  of  the  sixteenth  century 
the  carpenters  averaged  four  francs,  and  the  painters  and 
masons  3  francs  60  daily. 

Abuses  in  the  function  of  the  trade  corporations  threw 
France  of  the  sixteenth  century  into  the  throes  of  industrial 
transformation,  which  progressed  pari  passu  with  the 
Reformation.  The  splendors  of  the  Renaissance,  the 
flourishing  of  art  and  the  prosperity  of  industry  should  not 
give  us  a  false  impression  as  to  the  social  conditions  of  the 
artisans  of  the  period,  nor  disguise  the  progress  of  an  evil 
in  the  ruining  of  the  corporative  institutions.  The  social 
situation  of  the  workman  in  the  sixteenth  century  was  not 
enviable.  The  literature  of  the  day  was  not  interested  in 
him.  He  scarcely  appears  in  the  romance  of  Rabelais  or 
the  Heptameron.  France  was  not  yet  an  industrial  or  com- 
mercial nation,  for  the  great  majority  of  the  people  were 
peasants,  small  proprietors,  artisans,  and  small  merchants, 
with  the  bourgeois  and  gens-de-robe  forming  the  upper  class. 
The  economic  revolution  coincides  with  the  Reformation, 
which  in  a  great  measure  became  the  vehicle  of  its  expres- 
sion. Rumblings  had  been  heard  as  early  as  the  reign  of 
Charles  VII,  but  the  reigns  of  Charles  IX  and  Henry  HI 
saw  the  storm  break.  Especially  were  the  guilds  involved 
in  the  industrial  upheaval.  Industrial  tyranny  had  long 
brooded  over  the  guilds,  which  since  the  period  of  Charles 

'1  Avenel,  Paysans,  p.  4. 


44li]  SOCIAL   AND   ECONOMIC   FORCES  33 

VII  had  the  tendency  to  fall  into  the  hands  of  a  few. 
Serious  economic  and  political  results  ensued.  The  political 
control  of  the  cities  fell  into  the  hands  of  a  ring  of  the 
upper  bourgeoisie  and  this  oligarchy  had  gradually  squeezed 
the  lower  classes  out  of  all  participation  in  the  government.''^ 
As  early  as  15 12  at  Nevers  and  1530  at  Sens,  the  lower 
classes  had  been  shut  out  of  the  council. 

Capitalism,  hastened  by  the  increase  of  the  precious 
metals,  was  precipitating  a  further  economic  revolution  of 
even  greater  moment  than  the  political  transformation.  The 
"  gens  de  metier,"  whom  we  shall  examine  in  a  succeeding 
chapter,  became  a  capitalist  class,  monopolizing  the 
"hords"  of  the  guilds  and  excluding  others  from  the 
political  ruling  class.'^^  The  ancient  guild  was  becoming  a 
mercantile  association  conducted  by  a  few  wealthy  families 
who  regulated  wages  and  fixed  the  terms  of  apprenticeship. 
In  1559  the  apprentices  in  Paris  and  the  provinces  were  not 
paid,  and  were  bound  by  terms  of  from  one  to  six  years.''* 
Cheap  labor  was  obtained  by  increasing  the  number  of  ap- 
prentices, lengthening  the  terms  of  service,  and  employing 
raw  workmen  in  competition  with  skilled  labor.  While  the 
workman's  lot  became  more  and  more  unhappy  it  became 
more  and  more  difficult  to  cease  being  a  workman.  The 
justice  and  good  will  of  the  master  and  the  respect  and 
obedience  of  the  workman  became  the  exception.  It  was 
more  difficult  than  ever  for  the  workman  to  become  a 
master.  Simple  companions  were  being  excluded  in  mem- 
bership by  sons  and  sons-in-law  of  masters..  Besides,  many 
new  charges  were  added  to  the  old  obligations.  The  sum- 
mer day  for  work  lasted  from  5  a.  m.  to  7  p.  m. :  the 
winter  day,  from  6  to  6?^  The  scabbard  and  playing  card 
makers  and  glovers  had  an  even  longer  day,  from  4  a.  m. 
to  9  p.  m.  Work  might  not  be  made  up  at  night,  for  the 
bad  lighting  was  conducive  to  poor  goods.     Moreover,  the 

72  Thomson,  Wars  of  Religion  in  France,    Chicago,  1909,  p.  217. 

"  Ibid.,  p.  218. 

■^*  Hauser,  Ouvriers  du  temps  passe.    Paris,  1899,  p.  26. 

"5  Hauser,  Ouvriers,  p.  78. 

3 


34  FRENCH  protestantism:  1 559-1 562  Q442 

multiplicity  of  holidays  left  only  two  hundred  days  when 
"  oeuvres  serviles  "  were  allowed.  Later  it  will  be  shown 
how  the  revolution  of  the  fifteenth  and  sixteenth  centuries 
were  profitable  to  the  peasant,  though  ruinous  for  the 
artisan. 

The  patriarchal  regime  had  remained  vigorous  up  to  the 
sixteenth  century.  In  it  each  family  spun  wool,  and  gave  it 
to  be  woven  to  neighboring  weavers.^^  The  guilds  which 
were  perfecting  during  the  period  from  1250  onward  only 
partly  succeeded  in  monopolizing  trade.  There  now  fol- 
lowed a  struggle  between  labor  and  capital,  between  organ- 
ized and  free  labor. '^^  The  cost  of  living,  the  lowering  of 
wages,  and  unfair  treatment  by  the  guilds  caused  the  cleav- 
age to  grow  sharper.  A  new  class  of  "  chambrelons  "  sprang 
up.  This  was  composed  of  those  poor  and  unapprenticed 
workmen  who  undertook  to  work  in  their  own  quarters. 
They  saved  shop  fees  by  working  in  their  own  homes,  and 
sold  the  results  of  their  manual  labor  as  best  they  could. 
Journeymen  of  this  type  even  traversed  parts  of  Flanders, 
Germany,  and  Spain  while  disposing  of  their  goods.  From 
I457>  when  the  guild  masters  first  complained  of  this  unap- 
prenticed set,  to  1559,  this  free  work  had  reached  the 
amazing  figure  of  two-thirds  of  the  production  in  France. 
Guilds  with  their  strict  regulations  and  money  fees  could 
not  compete  with  the  new  system. 

The  Reform  appeared  as  the  first  organized  movement  of 
discontent.'^^  Thousands  of  downtrodden  workmen  were 
quick  to  allign  themselves  with  the  new  movement,  not 
merely  for  religious  reasons,  but  because  the  Reform  was 
precisely  what  they  sought, — a  protest.  Moreover,  there 
poured  into  France  many  artisans  from  Germany,  where  in 
the  great  industrial  centers  the  small  workmen  had  been 
even  more  squeezed  out  than  in  France,  England,  and 
Flanders.  These  simple  cobblers,  shoemakers,  wool-carders, 
carpenters,  and  others  wandered  over  France  carrying  "  the 

''^  Avenel,  Decouvertes,  p.  182. 
''''  Thompson,  p.  218. 
''^  Ibid.,  p.  219. 


4433  SOCIAL   AND    ECONOMIC    FORCES  35 

economic  gospel  of  free  labor  and  Lutheranism."'"  Before 
the  outbreak  of  the  first  civil  war  Protestant  recruits  were 
drawn  chiefly  from  wool-combers,  joiners,  dyers,  cutlers, 
fullers,  glazers,  pewteiers,  shoemakers,  weavers,  hosiers, 
tailors,  coopers,  bookbinders,  locksmiths,  and  other  trades. 

The  guilds  were  becoming  dangerous  fires  of  agitation. 
The  confreries  were  much  run  down  and  were  accused  of 
favoring  monopolies  and  debaucheries. ^°  Each  "corps  de 
metier  "  carried  a  banner  under  the  patronage  of  the  Virgin 
and  of  numerous  saints  who  protected  the  work.^^  The 
center  of  the  confreries  was  the  chapels  of  the  saint  under 
whose  protection  it  was.  All  edicts  of  dissolution  were  in- 
effective. During  the  sixteenth  century  the  guilds  were 
under  governmental  suspicion  on  account  of  their  turbu- 
lent assemblies  and  the  "  bourgeois  guard."  By  the  time  of 
the  wars,  royalty  imposed  more  directly  its  authority  over 
the  trades  in  sanctioning  their  statutes  and  tracing  their 
rules,  while  the  weights  and  measures  were  simplified  as 
far  as  possible.  A  little  while  before  it  had  been  quite 
different.  The  edict  of  1540  placed  them  all  under  the 
watch  of  twenty  horse  and  forty  footmen.^^  i^  iSS9  the 
"  bourgeois  guard  "  was  replaced  by  a  permanent  body  of 
footmen,  who  were  paid  sixteen  sous  apiece  by  the  master 
of  the  town  house  and  four  sous  parisis  by  the  owner  of 
faubourg  houses,  in  return  for  keeping  watch.  On  March 
3,  1 561,  this  was  raised  to  twenty  sous  tournois  and  five 
sous  for  the  suburbs.  An  ordinance  of  1561  limited  itself 
to  saying  that  many  of  the  confrereis  must  be  used  only 
for  divine  service,  charity  and  instruction — proof  of  an 
effort  to  reform.®^ 

Letters  patent  of  February,  1562  read  i*^*  "  In  certain  towns 

''^  Thompson,  p.  219. 

80  St.  Leon,  Martin,  L'histoire  des  corporations  de  metiers  dequis 
leurs  origines  jusqu'a  leur  suppression  en  1791.     Paris,  1897,  p.  284. 

81  Capefigue,  Histoire  de  la  Reforme,  la  Ligue,  et  du  rcgne  de 
Henri  IV.    3  vols.,  Paris,  1834;  vol.  i,  p.  281, 

82  St.  Leon,  p.  284. 

83  Hauser.  Ouvriers,  p.  167. 
8*  Ibid.,  p.  167. 


36  FRENCH  protestantism:  1 559-1 562  [444 

of  the  kingdom,  especially  at  Lyons,  the  guilds  had  been 
re-established;  that  under  this  pretext  the  trade  people 
carried  on  Sundays  and  week  days,  by  certain  persons 
dressed  in  masks  and  other  extravagant  ways,  i.  e.,  by  the 
kings  and  queens  of  die  trade,  the  sacred  bread  decorated 
with  banners  diversely  painted:  they  had  drums  and  fifes 
followed  by  a  great  number  of  artisans,  from  the  house  of 
the  head  of  the  confreries  to  the  church.  Afterwards  they 
returned  in  the  same  procession  to  the  cabarets  where  the 
feast  had  been  prepared."  So  Charles  IX  abolished  the 
guilds,  but  in  1564  they  had  so  little  decreased  that  their 
banquets  were  again  prohibited.  Laplanche  says  there  were 
10,000  artisans  in  Paris,  according  to  one  merchant,  who 
did  not  want  their  consciences  changed  to  that  of  the  car- 
dinal Lorraine.^^ 

Chancellor  L'Hopital  himself  drew  up  the  famous  ordi- 
nance of  Orleans,  aimed  directly  at  restraint  of  the  economic 
tyranny  of  the  guilds,  by  establishing  freer  working  condi- 
tions, and  by  lightening  the  burden  of  apprenticeship.^® 
Both  the  religious  and  political  Huguenots  endeavored  to 
efifect  the  revision  of  the  guild  statutes  as  part  of  their 
program  for  reform  at  the  Orleans  States-General.  The 
government  attempted  to  stamp  out  the  guilds,  whether  of 
religious  character  or  workmen  and  patrons.  Their  hoards 
were  ordered  spent  for  hospitals  or  schools  in  the  several 
towns,  and  the  municipal  officers  were  made  responsible  for 
the  edict.®'^  Royalty  was  literally  compelling  trade  associa- 
tions to  be  more  altruistic.  In  their  extremity  the  guilds 
gained  the  support  of  the  state  church  by  stimulating  re- 
ligious organization.  The  government  in  letters  patent  of 
February  5,  1562,  and  December  14,  1565,  directly  superin- 
tended the  "confreries  de  metiers."  It  was  not  long,  how- 
ever, before  the  guilds  were  acting  as  nuclei  of  the  famous 
local  and  provincial  Roman  Catholic  leagues.     Hauser  points 

8^  Laplanche,  Regnier  de,  Histoire  de  I'estat  de  France  .  .  .  sous 
Henri  II.    2  vols.,  Paris,  1836;  vol.  ii,  p.  274. 

^^  Isambert,  Recueil  general  des  anciennes  lois  frangaises  de  420  a 
1789.    29  vols.,  Paris,  1822-27;  vol.  xiv,  p.  63. 

^'^  Thompson,  p.  221. 


445]  SOCIAL   AND    ECONOMIC    FORCES  37 

out  that  the  labor  party  identified  itself  with  the  Protestants, 
but  that  the  upper  bourgeoisie,  who  dominated  the  guilds, 
adhered  to  Catholicism.  At  Rouen  in  1560  the  merchants 
"  declared  a  lock-out  against  the  workmen  who  attended 
Protestant  preaching."  Montluc  in  1562  referred  to  the 
Huguenots  as  novices  in  organization,  guided  mainly  by 
their  pastors.  If  we  except  the  example  in  Dauphiny  the 
Protestants  had  no  early  societies  similar  to  the  local  and 
provincial  Roman  Catholic  leagues.  The  latter  will  be  de- 
scribed in  a  succeeding  chapter. 


CHAPTER  II 
The  Resources  of  the  Huguenots 

The  vast  political  projects  of  Henry  IV  and  of  Richelieu 
really  began  with  Coligny,  the  great  Protestant.  His 
thought  was  to  avert  civil  war  and  guard  against  its  recur- 
rence hy  opposing  to  the  great  power  of  the  house  of 
Austria  a  united  France.  For  the  realization  of  this  plan 
he  relied  on  the  enfranchised  Low  Countries.  This  great 
idea  was  taken  up  in  due  time  by  Henry  IV,  but  meanwhile, 
just  as  Charles  IX  became  mature  enough  to  lend  himself 
to  the  project,  the  horror  of  St.  Bartholomew's  Eve  fell 
upon  a  frenzied  France. 

As  to  the  political  ideals  of  Coligny,  that  great  patriot 
possessed  decided  notions  concerning  a  French  world-em- 
pire. He  would  submerge  religious  differences  in  founding 
a  trans-oceanic  domain.  External  expansion  assured  free- 
dom of  worship  and  a  united  France :  internal  dissensions 
meant  annihilation  of  religion  and  foreign  intervention,  pos- 
sibly outside  domination.  To  superintend  a  program  of 
Protestant  economic,  political,  and  religious  expansion  there 
was  no  one  better  suited  than  Admiral  Coligny  himself. 
Ordinances  of  1549  and  1583  fixed  the  jurisdiction  of  the 
admiral  of  France  as  absolute  judge  of  matters  of  war  and 
merchandise  on  the  sea.^  Palandri  says  that  after  the  treaty 
of  Cateau-Cambresis  in  1558  patriotism  was  to  be  subordi- 
nated to  fanaticism ;  co-religionnaire  meant  compatriot,  de- 
spite nationalities  and  frontiers,^  but  certainly  this  spirit 
did  not  permeate  Coligny  and  the  leading  French  Protest- 
ants. They  planned  for  a  united  France  at  home  and  for 
colonial  frontiers  which  should  expand  to  four  continents. 

^  Levasseur,  Commerce,  vol.  i,  p.   194. 

2  Palandri  Eletto,  Les  negociations  politiques  et  religieuses  ent're 
la  France  et  la  Toscane,  Paris,  1908,  p.  84. 

38 


447]  THE    RESOURCES    OF   THE    HUGUENOTS  39 

Theirs  was  no  such  policy  as  that  of  Henry  II,  who  pre- 
sented the  paradox  of  aiding  the  Protestants  of  Germany 
against  Charles  V  and  crushing  the  Protestants  at  home. 
The  colonies  of  Coligny  failed,  but  mainly  because  the 
French  government  was  unfavorable.  The  calibre  of 
Huguenot  refugees  who  crossed  the  sea  was  scarcely  less 
notable  than  that  of  the  element  which  emigrated  to  Ger- 
many, Switzerland,  England,  and  Scandinavia.  For  their 
numbers  the  Protestants  possessed  proportionately  more 
wealth  and  culture.  Though  a  company  under  the  ban  and 
a  despised  sect,  Coligny's  colonists  included  nobles,  chiefs 
in  castles,  gentlemen,  captains,  statesmen,  and  honest  yeo- 
manry. Simultaneously  with  the  introduction  by  Henry  II 
of  the  fiendish  "  Chambre  ardente "  in  the  "  name  of  re- 
ligion," a  Havre  mariner,  de  Teston,  was  designing  an  atlas, 
in  1550,  which  the  Huguenot  sailors  were  soon  to  use  with 
wonderful  results.^  In  1555  the  body  of  emigrants  on  a 
ship  sailing  from  Havre  was  Protestant.*  The  Portuguese 
sphere  of  Brazil  was  the  goal  of  an  expedition  launched  the 
following  year,  but  the  doom  of  their  prospects  was  pro- 
nounced when  the  renegade  Huguenot  Villegagnon,  leader 
of  the  company,  read  a  letter  from  the  Cardinal  of  Lor- 
raine, restoring  him  to  the  bosom  of  the  church.  Attempts 
undertaken  in  1560  and  1563  succeeded  better  than  the 
Florida  fiasco  of  1565,  when  the  French  were  massacred  by 
the  Spaniards  under  Menendez.  In  1561  Chantonnay, 
Philip's  ambassador,  warned  the  Catholics  "on  the  subject 
of  an  armament  of  heretics  mostly  gentry,  preparing  at 
Dieppe  against  the  Indies,  with  10  galleys  and  50  guns."^ 
The  Reform  had  first  entered  the  port  of  Dieppe  in  1557, 
when  a  bookseller  who  had  gone  to  Geneva  on  business,  re- 
turned with  some  copies  of  the  scriptures.  Most  of  the 
magistrates  became  Protestants,  and  the  drapers  and 
weavers  accepted  the  doctrine  most  eagerly.     After  driv- 

3  Bourciez,  p.  51. 

*  Blackburn,  Admiral  Coligny  and  the  Rise  of  the  Huguenots.    2 
vols.,  Philadelphia,  1869;  vol.  ii,  p.  67. 
5  Archives  Nationales,  Paris,  K  1495,  No.  4,  1561. 


40 


FRENCH    protestantism:    I559-I562  [448 


ing  out  the  feast  day  procession  of  Charles  of  Lorraine, 
April  30,  1559,  the  town  became  openly  Protestant.'  John 
Knox  preached  there  for  six  weeks,  with  great  results  for 
the  new  faith.  Such  were  some  of  the  evidences  of  the 
growing  strength  of  Protestantism, 

Levasseur  classifies  French  industrial  history  into  seven 
natural  periods,  (i)  The  Roman  period  found  the  artisan 
a  slave  of  his  college  under  imperial  despotism.  (2)  The 
period  of  invasions  saw  the  artisans  dispersed,  living  like 
serfs  on  lands  of  lords  or  like  monks  in  cloisters.  (3)  The 
period  of  feudalism  and  the  crusades  was  an  epoch  of  pros- 
perity. The  bourgeoisie  was  born,  while  the  corps  dc 
metiers  reformed  on  a  new  plan,  with  an  eye  to  privilege 
and  mutual  protection.  Industry  and  commerce  flourished. 
(4)  The  period  of  the  Hundred  Years'  War  was  one  of 
cruel  misery.  The  artisan  tried  to  protect  himself  by  multi- 
plying associations  and  religious  bonds.  The  King  put  the 
working  classes  more  directly  under  his  hand.  (5)  The 
period  of  the  Renaissance  and  of  the  Ligue  was  one  of 
brilliant  development  of  art  and  industries,  but  all  the  abuses 
of  the  corporation  were  in  full  blast.  The  king  did  not 
triumph  over  the  spirit  of  turbulent  independence  until 
Henry  IV.  (6)  The  period  of  Colbert  found  royalty  super- 
intending the  work.  (7)  The  period  of  the  eighteenth  cen- 
tury was  that  of  economists.'^  Our  period  of  1 559-1 562 
occurs  during  the  fifth  cycle,  when  there  was  brilliant  de- 
velopment of  art  and  industries,  but  the  monopolies  of 
corporations  were  in  full  control.  The  operations  of  the 
Huguenot  merchant  at  home  and  abroad  must  be  considered 
under  those  conditions. 

The  importance  of  the  commercial  class  in  the  sixteenth 
century  has  been  underestimated.  It  is  true  that  the  French 
were  not  essentially  an  industrial  or  commercial  nation  at 
that  time.  The  maritime  power  of  France  was  negligible 
along  side  that  of  Spain,  England,  and  Venice.  In  the  cities 
the  upper  classes  of  bourgeois  and  gens-de-robe  naturally 

^  Vitet,  Histoire  de  Dieppe.    2  vols.,  Paris,  1844 ;  vol.  i,  p.  95. 
■^Levasseur,  Classes  Ouvrieres,  vol.  i,  p.  v  (preface). 


449]  "^^^   RESOURCES    OF   THE    HUGUENOTS  4I 

overshadowed  the  small  merchants  and  artisans.^  Society 
was  aristocratic  and  governed  by  the  clergy  and  nobility, 
who  possessed  most  of  the  wealth  of  the  country.  Above 
them,  at  the  top  of  the  social  edifice  was  the  king,  gradu- 
ally centering  in  himself  the  legal,  administrative,  and  finan- 
cial organization  of  France.  But  the  aristocracy  in  i559 
had  fallen  on  evil  days.  It  was  losing  its  opulence  at  the 
very  time  the  Renaissance  was  fostering  a  love  for  luxury 
and  gold  from  America  was  quintupling  prices.  France  for 
thirty  years  had  drunk  too  deeply  from  the  intoxicating  life 
of  Italy — an  atmosphere  of  restored  paganism.  The  nobles 
clung  frantically  to  the  tatters  of  medieval  feudalism,  voic- 
ing their  grievances  at  the  Orleans  and  Poissy-Pontoise 
estates  of  1 560-1 561.  They  protested  against  the  encroach- 
ment on  their  rights  by  the  peasantry,  and  certainly  showed 
no  scorn  of  merchants  when  they  asked  permission  to  en- 
gage in  all  commercial  pursuits,  without  cancellation  of 
feudal  privileges.  The  new  centralization  in  government 
was  viewed  with  alarm.  The  peasants,  on  the  other  hand, 
v/ere  restless  because  they  felt  they  could  only  climb  up  the 
economic  and  social  ladder  at  the  expense  of  the  nobility. 

With  the  economic  and  religious  revolution  was  occurring 
a  change  in  the  manners  of  society  which  affected  all  classes. 
New  world  discoveries  and  the  Italian  wars  of  France  were 
sponsor  for  a  new  internationalism.  Returned  soldiers  and 
workmen  from  Italy,  Germany,  Switzerland,  and  the  Low 
Countries  were  introducing  new  manners  and  customs.^ 
Probably  the  citizen-merchant  class  was  the  most  contented 
section  of  the  community.  All  the  changes  of  the  previous 
half-century  had  played  into  their  hands:  Renaissance,  dis- 
covery of  America,  expansion  of  trade,  decline  of  nobility, 
and  rise  of  prices.  Further,  the  legal  and  administrative 
classes,  under  the  new  centralized  royal  power,  were  from 
the  citizen  ranks.^"     The  guild  or  "corps  de  metier"  was 

8  Thompson,  p.  18. 

9  Ibid.,  p.  220. 

1"  Fagniez,  Documents  relatifs  a  I'histoire  de  rindustrie  en  France. 
2  vols.,  Paris,  1877,  vol.  ii,  p.  55. 


42  FRENCH  protestantism:  1559-1562  [450 

a  civil  person,  a  religious  and  charitable  society,  and  as 
such  influential.  The  municipal  franchises  of  the  bour- 
geoisie still  had  enough  importance  in  1561  to  excite  the 
solicitude  of  the  royal  power.  "  You  should  gain  four  of 
the  principal  citizens  who  have  most  power  in  the  principal 
towns  of  France,"  said  Catherine  to  Charles  IX,  "  and  also 
the  principal  merchants,  for  in  that  way  you  will  control 
the  elections. "^^ 

The  great  commercial  fairs  constituted  one  of  the  very 
greatest  spheres  of  Protestant  mercantile  activity  and  propa- 
gandism.  For  a  long  period  the  fairs  of  Champagne  in 
northern  France  enjoyed  tremendous  prestige.  Each  year 
in  that  province  there  were  held  successive  fairs  at  Lagne, 
Bar,  Troyes,  and  Provins,  in  each  case  of  forty-eight  days 
duration.  Bruges  finally  succeeded  Champagne  in  the 
estimation  of  Italian  and  German  merchants.  The  north 
of  France  also  boasted  one  of  the  oldest  fairs,  that  of  St. 
Denis  at  Paris.  Here  were  gathered  from  the  eleventh  to 
the  twenty-fifth  of  June  year  after  year  patrons  from  the 
whole  Mediterranean  basin.  In  the  city  proper  all  mer- 
chants were  compelled  to  close  their  shops  during  the  fort- 
night. Dealers  in  horses  and  cattle,  money  changers,  and 
those  selling  according  to  weight  were  permitted  to  offer 
their  specialties  daily;  other  articles  were  sold  at  stated 
periods.  Huguenot  mariners  were  richly  recompensed  for 
bringing  from  the  Levant  such  luxuries  as  rugs,  pearls, 
porcelain,  indigo,  perfumes,  silks,  muslin,  cotton  goods, 
ivory,  dyestufifs,  sugar,  camphor,  aloes,  rhubarb,  and  lauda- 
num. When  ordinances  forbade  the  payment  of  any  gold 
to  the  Moslems,  French  traders  discovered  other  means  to 
prevent  the  curtailment  of  their  business.  Increasing 
facility  of  communication  witnessed  the  apogee  of  the  fairs 
in  the  sixteenth  century. 

In  1559  the  fairs  at  Bordeaux,  the  greatest  wine  port  of 
France,  had  not  yet  been  injured  by  the  civil  wars.     The 

11  Buet,  L'Amiral  de  Coligny  et  les  Guerres  de  Religion  au  i6e 
siecle.    Paris,  1884,  p.  37. 


45 1  ]  THE   RESOURCES    OF   THE    HUGUENOTS  43 

annual  dates  were  March  i  and  October  15.^-  Tobacco  was 
first  introduced  into  France  at  Bordeaux  by  Jean  Nicot,  in 
1560,  and  thereafter  this  product  became  one  of  the  staples 
at  the  semi-annual  fairs.^^  These  markets  were  greatly  as- 
sisted when  five  years  later  Charles  IX  made  them  free  of 
taxation  and  control  in  return  for  a  payment  of  60,000 
livres.  Bordeaux  boasted  many  factories  of  pins,  paper, 
morocco,  wool,  cloth,  silk,  mixed  goods,  gold  and  silver 
cloth,  and  swords.  It  was  also  a  great  center  for  salted  fish. 
Haddock  were  exported  to  Brittany,  salt  salmon  to  Ireland, 
herring  to  Normandy,  England,  Scotland,  Ireland,  and 
Flanders.  Sardines  and  cod  were  imported  from  Normandy 
and  Brittany. 

Lyons,  however,  possessed  the  greatest  of  all  French 
fairs,  rivalling  any  in  Europe.  Four  fairs  were  held  each 
year.  In  the  sixteenth  century  the  city  transacted  business 
of  more  than  two  millions  ecus  d'or  per  annum.  This  town 
of  120,000  souls  held  the  truly  wonderful  record  of  35 
millions  imports,  and  65  millions  exports  yearly^*  (silver 
being  then  fifteen  times  in  value  of  what  it  is  now).  Situ- 
ated at  the  juncture  of  the  Rhone  and  the  Saone,  it  was  the 
natural  entrepot  for  commerce  from  Italy  and  Switzerland 
and  much  from  Spain,  Flanders,  and  Germany.  Fair  mer- 
chants were  compelled  to  reserve  their  places  a  year  in  ad- 
vance. In  1450  Lyons  had  been  made  the  monopoly  center 
of  the  silk  manufacture,  and  by  1536  silk  operators  had  been 
relieved  of  all  taxes  and  military  service.  While  on  the  tour 
of  the  provinces  in  1564  Charles  IX  was  amazed  at  the 
wealth  and  commercial  prosperity  of  Lyons.^^  Said  the 
traveler  Nicolay  in  1573:  "Lyons  is  the  place  of  exchange 
which  gives  the  law  to  all  the  European  towns,  to  which 
flow  people  from  all  places,  who  have  resorted  there  for  the 
honesty  and  hospitality  of  the  Lyonnais,  and  the  gain  ac- 

12  Levasseur,  Commerce,  vol.  i,  p.  189. 

^3  Bachelier,  Histoire  du  commerce  de  Bordeaux.  Bordeaux,  1862, 
p.  III. 

"  Steyert,  Andre,  Nouvelle  Histoire  de  Lyon  et  des  provinces  de 
Lyonnais.    3  vols.,  Lyon ;  vol.  iii,  p.  100. 

15  Negociations  toscanes,  vol.  iii,  p.  515. 


44 


FRENCH    protestantism:    I559-I562  [452 


customed  to  be  found  there."^"    The  poet  Charles  Fontaine 
eulogized  it  thus : 

"  Ou  est  la  ville  ayant  tel  bruit 
En  echanges,  foires,  marchandises? 
Nulle  mieux  que  Lyons  ne  bruit 
Soit  les  Anvers  ou  les  Venise." 

Before  discussing  the  religious  aspect  of  the  Lyons  fair, 
it  may  be  said  of  its  economic  importance  that  the  total 
exports  and  imports  of  the  town  (in  1560  one-twenty-fourth 
the  present  size  of  Paris),  reached  the  unheard  of  figure 
of  one  hundred  millions  ecus  d'or.  The  wines  and  grain  of 
Burgundy  traveled  only  a  short  distance  to  Lyons.  Silks 
and  velvets  were  brought  from  Turin,  Toulouse,  and  Paris ; 
wool  fabrics  from  nearly  every  province ;  clocks  from  Lan- 
guedoc,  Normandy,  Auvergne,  Rheims,  and  Abbeville ; 
tapestries  of  high  warp  from  Rouen,  Auvergne,  and  Fel- 
lertin ;  sword  blades  from  Vienna ;  cutlery  from  Rouen, 
Montauban,  Langres,  Thiers,  Moulins,  Falaise ;  mercury 
from  Paris,  Tours,  Troyes,  Caen,  and  Rouen ;  sword  scab- 
bards from  Paris,  Rouen,  Troyes,  Lyons,  and  Thiers. 
Gloves  were  imported  to  the  fairs  from  Paris,  Issoudun, 
Vendome,  Montpellier,  and  Rouen ;  pins  from  Puy,  Nantes, 
and  Rouen;  saffron  from  Albigeois,  Limoges,  Roche- 
foucauld, and  Cahors ;  verdigris  from  Montpellier ;  enamels 
from  Limoges ;  hampers  from  Dauphiny  and  Provence ; 
while  prayer  chaplets  of  agate,  pearl,  lapis-lazuli,  porcelain, 
amber,  coral,  enamel,  glass,  and  wood  came  from  all  Chris- 
tian countries.^'^ 

The  foreign  countries  of  Europe  contributed  an  extensive 
variety  of  goods.  Germany  sent  gold,  leather,  iron,  tallow, 
sulphur,  wax,  tar,  cotton ;  Augsburg,  30,000  livres  worth  of 
fustians  yearly ;  Hungary,  Frisia,  and  Denmark  sent  horses. 
St.  Gall  sold  cloth ;  Mayence,  hams.  Italy  and  the  Levant 
exported  fifteen  millions  yearly  to  Lyons,  as  follows :  silk 
stuffs,  velvet,  cloth  of  gold  and  silver  brocade,  gold  cloths, 

1^  Levasseur,  Commerce,  vol.  i,  p.  189. 
1''  Steyert,  vol.  iii,  pp.  loi  et  seq. 


4533  '^^^^   RESOURCES    OF   THE    HUGUENOTS  45 

camlets  (of  Angora  goat  hair),  laces,  arms  de  luxe,  cloaks, 
theatre  costumes,  silk  hats,  ostrich  plumes,  straw  hats, 
scarlet  cloths,  furs,  porcelain  vessels,  marble,  alabaster, 
enamel,  Venice  glass,  Piedmont  leather,  carpets,  articles  of 
Turkish  morocco  leather,  war  horses,  falcons,  and  ultra- 
marine blues.  Damascus  and  Corinth  supplied  rice,  honey, 
and  grapes.  Smugglers  introduced  Venetian  glass  and 
Genoese  silks  (worth  200,000  livres),  lingerie  de  luxe,  and 
gold  broidered  shirts.  Holland  contributed  cambrics,  linen, 
and  wool  worth  900,000  livres  besides  cheeses.  Flanders 
traded  in  tapestries,  serges,  carpets,  lace,  linen,  armor- 
trappings;  and  Antwerp,  spices  (400,000  livres),  and 
precious  stones  (half  a  million  livres).  England  and  her 
colonies  sent  gold  and  silver,  tin  and  lead  worth  three  million 
livres  as  well  as  coal,  leather,  and  light  cavalry  horses. 
From  Portugal  there  came  yearly  800,000  livres  in  money, 
perfumes,  spices,  sugar,  honey,  wax,  alum,  dyes,  sweet- 
meats, preserves,  figs,  dates,  oranges,  raisins,  oils,  and  wines. 
The  Lyons  fairs  supplied  Spain  with  wheat,  pastel,  salt  meat, 
linen,  wool,  paper,  and  hardware.^®  In  return  she  shipped 
oranges,  dried  grapes,  almonds,  olive  oils,  cotton,  silver  and 
gold  uncoined  or  ingots  to  the  value  of  three  millions.  Raw 
silk  smuggled  into  Lyons  brought  two  million  livres  in  one 
year.  The  values  of  other  Spanish  imports  received  at  the 
fairs  amounted  to  more  than  a  million  livres. 

In  addition  to  this  commercial  importance  Lyons  was  the 
greatest  Protestant  city  in  France.  Even  Cardinal  Gran- 
vella  conceded  that  the  principal  citizens  were  Huguenots, 
who  comprised  at  least  one-fourth  the  population.^^  The  city 
was  radically  Protestant  on  account  of  its  proximity  to 
Geneva,  and  the  tendency  was  stimulated  still  more  by  the 
great  discontent  prevailing  among  the  lower  classes  engaged 
in  silk  and  other  industries.  Furthermore,  Lyons  was  the 
capital  of  printing,  and  nearly  all  the  printers,  particularly 

18  Levasseur,  Commerce,  vol.  i,  p.  208. 

19  Papiers  d'Etat  du  cardinal  de  Granvelle.  12  vo's.,  Bruxelles, 
1877;  vol.  vii,  p.  467. 


46  FRENCH  protestantism:  1 559-1 562  [454 

the  Germans,  were  favorable  to  the  reform.^^  At  least  nine 
hundred  homes  in  Lyons  were  suspected  of  Protestantism  in 
1560.  Discontented  with  their  social  state,  the  working 
class  offered  a  marvelous  field  for  the  propagation  of 
Protestantism.  The  struggle  between  capital  and  labor, 
between  the  bourgeois  aristocracy  and  the  gens  de  metier, 
was  making  itself  felt  in  1560.  It  was  taken  up  by  the 
printer's  trade  where  the  occupation  placed  the  workmen  in 
intellectual  relations  with  authors,  home  and  foreign.  Thus 
there  was  opened  up  a  new  horizon  so  that  the  first  cham- 
pions of  the  reform  from  the  working  class  came  from  the 
printers'  ranks.  Though  the  bulk  of  the  Lyonnais  com- 
merce was  in  the  hands  of  12,000  Italians,  the  latter  did  not 
oppose  the  reform.  This  is  not  surprising  in  view  of  the 
fact  that  they  were  mainly  natives  of  north  Italy,  from 
Genoa,  Milan,  or  Florence.  Foreign  Catholic  merchants 
and  artisans  were  none  too  kindly  disposed  toward  their 
Catholic  majesties,  Francis  II  and  Charles  IX,  who  mulcted 
Lyons  of  loans  more  often  than  any  other  French  city.^'- 
The  presence  of  many  Swiss  and  Germans  in  the  town  gave 
Jacques  de  Savoye,  Duke  de  Nemours,  the  governor,  great 
anxiety  because  of  the  large  quantity  of  arms  smuggled  into 
the  city  under  guise  of  merchandise.^-  Foreign  soldiers 
disguised  as  merchants  attended  the  Lyons  fair  in  April, 
1560.  The  hand  of  the  Guises  was  evidently  preparing 
for  the  inevitable  in  a  city  where  many  causes  facilitated 
the  reform.  For  a  long  time  Lyons  had  combated  the  tem- 
poral domination  of  the  archbishops.  It  did  not  covet  the 
rich  domain  of  the  church,  like  the  princes  of  the  north,  but 
even  more  resolutely  than  Germany,  the  town  disliked  eccle- 
siastical government. ^^  The  great  numbers  of  strangers 
attending  the  fairs  acted  as  effective  Protestant  missionaries 
in  a  cause  already  agreeable  to  the  native. 

Just  as  today,  many  of  the  prominent  French  bankers  in 

20  Hauser,  De  rhumanisme  de  la  r^forme  en  France,  in  Revue 
Historique,  vol.  Ixiv,  p.  271. 

21  Great  Britain,  Cal.  St.  P.  For.,  No.  61Q,  Oct.  10,  1560. 

22  St.  Sulpice,  p.  266. 

23  Montfalcon,  Histoire  de  Lyon.    9  vols. ;  vol.  ii,  p.  660. 


455^  "^^^   RESOURCES   OF   THE    HUGUENOTS  47 

1560  were  of  Huguenot  persuasion.  The  Protestant  war 
chest  for  many  years  was  replenished  through  the  abiHty 
of  these  men  of  finance  to  negotiate  loans  at  home  and 
abroad.  The  resources  of  the  large  numbers  of  the  nobility 
and  clergy  who  professed  the  reform  between  1558  and  1562 
were  also  at  the  disposal  of  the  Protestant  movement.  To 
Lyons  fell  the  honor  of  instituting  the  first  French  bank, 
in  1543.  The  system  was  introduced  from  Italy  to  replace 
the  money  changers,  whose  business  in  those  days  of  di- 
versified coinage  was  decidedly  profitable.  Six  years  after 
Lyons'  innovation,  Toulouse  established  a  bank,  in  1549,"* 
followed  by  Rouen  in  1556.  Many  Italian  banking  firms 
were  invited  to  install  branches  in  1560.  In  the  meantime 
the  standards  of  money  had  improved. ^'^ 

At  the  same  time  the  right  to  strike  coins  was  not  a 
royal  monopoly  and  it  is  interesting  to  note  that  the  Protest- 
ants possessed  a  distinct  money  of  their  own.  Independ- 
ence and  financial  programs  dictated  such  a  procedure,  but 
of  its  history  only  a  little  is  known.  It  is  to  be  deplored 
that  material  dealing  with  a  practice  which  must  have  been 
very  common  is  scarce.  That  mine  of  historical  informa- 
tion, the  annual  Bulletin  of  French  Protestantism,  describes 
coins  discovered  in  and  about  Orleans,  the  central  strong- 
hold of  Protestantism,  which  bear  the  features  of  Prince 
Louis  of  Conde  and  the  legend  "  Louis,  Roi."  Conde  was 
really  a  king  at  Orleans.      He  ordered  all  the  gold  and 

-*  St.  Leon,  Martin,  L'Histoire  des  corporations  de  metiers  de- 
puis  leurs  origines  jusqu'a  leur  suppression  en  1791,  p.  277. 

25  Levasseur,  Classes  Ouvrieres,  p.  37. 

Until  1533  the  great  variety  of  moneys  proved  a  real  impediment. 
Under  Francis  I  a  reform  was  instituted.  The  standard  in  the  six- 
teenth century  in  France  was  the  livre  tournois  (20  sous,  =60 
cents).  It  was  not  a  piece  of  money  but  a  value,  or  representation 
of  a  quantity  of  precious  metal,  varying  from  98  grams  of  silver 
under  St.  Louis  to  11  under  Henry  IV.  Avenel  considers  the  livre 
tournois  of  1561  to  1572  equivalent  to  3  francs  11  centimes,  or  9 
francs  30  today.  Levasseur  estimates  it  for  the  same  period  at  4 
francs  84.  In  contrast  to  the  livre  of  value  was  the  gold  coin,  ecu 
d'or,  equivalent  to  exactly  two  livres  in  1561,  and  varying  during 
the  wars  of  religion  from  i  livre  16  sous  to  2  livres  5.  The  extensive 
trade  with  England  served  to  circulate  the  gold  crown  of  51  francs 
tournois  and  the  "  rose  "  nobles  of  6  francs  12  sous. 


48  FRENCH  protestantism:  1 559-1 562  [456 

silver  from  the  churches  to  be  brought  there,  while  coins 
were  struck  from  sacred  vases  and  relics,  and  cannon  were 
cast  from  church  clocks."*'  At  the  outbreak  of  the  first  civil 
war  the  Protestants  seemed  to  have  plenty  of  money  for 
immediate  necessities,  thanks  to  the  riches  of  the  churches 
of  Orleans  and  Bourges  and  the  Abbey  of  Marmoutier. 
The  families  which  coined  were  those  of  Conde,  Navarre, 
Porcien,  Anjou,  Nevefs.^'^  Damville,  son  of  Montmorency, 
established  a  mint  at  Beziers  in  1586.  William  of  Joyeuse 
had  mints  at  Toulouse  and  Narbonne.  After  their  accept- 
ance of  Protestantism,  the  people  of  Montalban  made  their 
own  money.  When  Sommerive,  governor  of  Provence, 
drove  the  Protestants  from  his  district,  he  found  many  new 
coins  serving  as  money.^®  Many  nobles,  recent  professors 
of  the  reform,  were  minting  in  their  castles  by  the  time  of 
the  close  of  the  first  war  of  religion. 

Naturally  the  Protestants  were  no  longer  obliged  to  pay 
Papal  or  other  foreign  tribute.  This  released  a  magnificent 
sum  for  the  home  treasury.  It  is  related  by  the  Venetian 
ambassador  in  1560  that  the  amount  of  money  sent  by 
France  to  Geneva  was  incredible.^^  Moreover,  it  was  a 
superfluous  requirement  of  the  edict  of  January  (1562) 
that  any  raising  of  money  among  the  Huguenots  was  to  be 
wholly  voluntary  and  not  in  the  form  of  assessment  or 
imposition.  Calvin  never  had  to  urge  voluntary  giving  upon 
the  French  Protestants,  who  numbered,  according  to  the 
estimate  of  Montesquieu  in  1560,  half  a  million  out  of  a 
population  of  twenty  millions. ^° 

"Of  the  17  departments  contributing  the  denier s  of  the 
king,  only  three  are  free,  while  the  others  are  in  the  hands 

^'^  Lettenhove,  Les  Huguenots  et  les  Guex.  6  vols.,  Bruges,  1885 ; 
vol.  i,  p.  75.  Weill,  Le  theories  sur  le  pouvoir  royal  en  France 
pendant  les  guerres  de  religion.     Paris,  1892,  p.  107. 

^''  Tobiesen  Duby,  Monnaies  des  Prelats  et  des  Barons  de  France. 
2  vols. ;  vol.  i,  p.  329. 

28  Ruffi,  Histoire  de  la  ville  de  Marseille.  2  vols.,  Marseille,  1696; 
vol.  i,  p.  338. 

29  Relation  des  embassadeurs  venetiens,  p.  413. 

30  Montesquieu,  Esprit  des  Lois.  2  vols.,  Geneva,  1748;  vol.  i,  ch. 
xxiii ;  De  la  Barre-Duparcq,  Histoire  de  Henri  H,  p.  55. 


45?]  "^HE    RESOURCES    OF   THE    HUGUENOTS  49 

of  the  Huguenots  or  useless  on  account  of  obstacles  in  the 
highways,"  wrote  the  Catholic  bishop  of  St.  Croix,  on  June 
I,  1562.^^  The  Protestants  let  no  money  pass  from  the 
provinces  under  their  control,  even  destroying  the  govern- 
ment registers  in  the  towns  which  they  took.  Chantonnay, 
the  Spanish  ambassador,  shrewdly  commented  that  if  the 
Roman  Catholics  were  as  active  in  this  manner  they  would 
be  better  off.^-  In  some  quarters  provisions  were  obtained 
by  forced  contributions  from  the  Catholics.  The  Huguenots 
intercepted  a  portion  of  the  dauphin's  revenues,  which  ac- 
crued mainly  from  two  widely  separated  provinces,  Dauph- 
iny  and  Brittany.  The  latter  contributed  520,000  francs 
yearly.  The  gabelle  of  50,000  crowns  on  salt  and  other 
royal  rights  in  Rouen  and  Dieppe  were  diverted  when  those 
towns  openly  declared  for  Calvin.  One  writer  claims  that 
"  Huguenots  or  robbers  "  intercepted  13,000  ecus  d'or  sent 
by  Philip  to  Catherine  from  Flanders  in  February,  1563.^* 
Loans  from  Catholic  Germany,  Tuscany  and  Venice  were 
also  appropriated,  evoking  vitriolic  denunciation  from  the 
Guises.  One  arrogant  measure  led  to  retaliatory  tactics  on 
the  part  of  the  Protestants.  An  arret  of  Parlement  of  Au- 
gust 5,  1562,  ordered  that  "arrears  of  rents  belonging  to 
rebels  shall  not  be  paid  them,"^*  In  answer  to  this  decree 
Conde  seized  upon  government  receipts  from  the  gabelle  and 
other  taxes  of  the  king  in  all  the  villages  and  elections  con- 
trolled by  the  Protestants,  including  even  the  moneys  of  the 
royal  domain  and  revenues  of  the  churches.  The  taille  was 
imposed  on  all  Huguenots  in  all  towns  under  Protestant 
control  to  find  money  to  pay  the  cavalry  and  to  obtain  other 
essentials.  The  priest  Claude  Haton  confesses  that  the 
Protestants  paid  for  everything  they  took  (to  eat);  "not 
so  with  the  Roman  Catholics."^^  In  contrast  to  the  Hugue- 
nots' method,  forced  loans  were  imposed  upon  small  mer- 

21  St.  Croix,  p.  171. 

*2  Great  Britain,  K.  1497,  No.  33,  May  2,  1562. 

'3  Revue  historique,  vol.  i,  p.  490. 

•*  Memoires  de  Conde,  vol.  i,  p.  542. 

*5  Memoires  de  Claude  Haton,  vol.  i,  pp.  279,  444-5- 

4 


50 


FRENCH    protestantism:    I559-I562  [458 


chants  at  the  beginning  of  the  second  civil  war,  and  even 
the  peasantry  were  constrained  to  forced  labor. 

Financial  negotiations  between  Elizabeth  of  England  and 
the  French  Protestants  proved  tedious  and  disheartening. 
The  Huguenots  looked  to  England  for  a  loan  of  100,000 
crowns,  offering  as  security  their  leaders'  notes,  or  else  bonds 
of  some  of  the  most  notable  Reformed  churches,  as  Lyons 
and  Rouen.     Guise  sent  Count  de  Roussy  to  England  to 
discover  Elizabeth's  intentions  and  the  military  state  of  Eng- 
land.^''    Early  in  April,  1562,  Conde  had  asked  support  from 
Elizabeth,    after    receiving    assurances    of   her   interest   in 
March.^^     Beza  remarks  that  if  Elizabeth  had  said  a  few 
firm  words  in  espousal  of  the  Protestant  cause  and  had  ex- 
pressed her  firm  purpose  never  to  return  to  the  religion  of 
her  bloody  predecessor,  she  probably  would  have  decided  the 
French  nobles  who  were  wavering  between  the  two  religions. 
Possibly  she  was  too  much  embroiled  at  home  to  be  the  most 
powerful  ally  the  French  Protestants  could  have.     Possibly 
England  could  not  break  with  Spain  because  of  commerce 
with  Holland  and  Flanders.     Whatever  the  cause,  she  re- 
fused help  to  defend  Rouen  until  too  late.     Two  offers  were 
presented  to  Conde  and  Coligny  by  the  English  queen.     On 
condition   that  she  should   receive  Havre,   England  would 
pay  in  Strasburg  70,000  crowns,  besides  granting  three  host- 
ages to  the  count  Palatine.     Twenty  days  after  receiving 
Havre  40,000  crowns  were  to  be  paid  at  Dieppe,  and  in 
twenty  more  days  30,000  crowns,  to  be  employed  by  Conde 
upon  the  defense  of  Rouen,  Dieppe,  and  the  rest  of  Nor- 
mandy.    Havre  was  to  be  returned  when  Calais  was  re- 
stored to  England  and  the  advance  of  140,000  crowns  re- 
paid.    The  Hampton  Court  Treaty  of  September  20,  1562, 
finally  extracted  the  promise   of    100,000  ecus   d'or  from 
Elizabeth,  who  received  Calais  and  Havre  on  condition  of 
manning  the  latter  with  3000  troops.     In  the  last  analysis, 
the  niggardly  policy  of  Elizabeth  was  fatal.^* 

s^Beze,  T.  de,  Histoire  ecclesiastique  des  Eglises  Reformees.     3 
vols.,  Antwerp,  1580;  vol.  i,  p.  373. 

3"  Great  Britain,  Cal.  St.  P.  For.,  No.  374,  July  27,  1562. 
38  Ibid.,  No.  289,  Feb.  12,  1562. 


459]  '^^^^   RESOURCES    OF   THE    HUGUENOTS  5I 

In  further  consideration  of  the  foreign  sources  of  revenue, 
it  is  necessary  to  study  the  Huguenot  ports  and  cities  of 
commerce  together  with  the  elaborate  trade  routes  exploited 
by  the  Protestants.  Rouen  was  considered  the  second  town 
in  France  by  the  Venetian  ambassador.  Even  in  1535,  there 
were  two  hundred  ships  in  its  harbor  at  one  time.  This 
great  Seine  port  flourished  in  spite  of  custom  duties  amount- 
ing to  one-third  of  the  trade,  and  was  rich  in  its  four  fairs 
and  cloth  manufactures.  In  contrast  to  Bordeaux,  the  Nor- 
man port  had  much  wheat  for  export,  but  little  wine.^" 
Metals  and  lumber  were  imported  from  England,  Spain, 
and  even  Finland  and  Normandy ;  skins  from  Germany  and 
Scandinavia ;  salt  fish  from  England,  Denmark,  and  Hol- 
land ;  wines  and  oil  from  the  Italian  peninsula ;  salt  and 
spices  from  Brittany  and  Poitou ;  wines,  honey,  and  wax 
from  Aquitaine;  almonds,  pepper,  and  spices  from  Italy. 
The  exports  consisted  of  cloth,  lumber,  guano,  worked  iron, 
coal,  grain,  salt,  and  cider  of  pears  and  apples. 

Dieppe  traded  with  Spain,  Portugal,  and  Africa,  and 
claimed  the  navigator,  Cousin,  who  touched  the  Amazon  in 
1488.  Boulogne's  trade  was  mainly  with  England  and  Ant- 
werp. Harfleur  was  only  a  fisher  village  at  the  beginning 
of  the  sixteenth  century,  but  in  1520  Francis  I  made  it  a 
seaport  (Havre-de-Grace)  and  forever  exempted  it  from 
gabelles  and  tallies.  Honfleur,  across  the  bay,  was  noted 
for  its  fishing.  St.  Malo,  in  Brittany,  did  an  important 
trading  business  with  Spain  during  the  sixteenth  century. 
La  Rochelle  exported  wine  and  salt.  The  Protestants  of 
this  port  armed  29  "  terre-neuviers "  between  August  27, 
1 561,  and  March  6,  1563.^° 

Bordeaux  was  the  greatest  wine  port.  All  countries  cele- 
brating the  mass  had  representatives  at  this  Garonne  city. 
Dried  fruits,  grains,  oils,  and  arms  were  also  sent  out,  while 
wool,  leather,  beef,  cloth,  and  salt  w^ere  being  brought  in. 
Captain  Lassalle,  a  Huguenot,  suggested  that  eight  warships 

39  Relations  .  .  .  venetiens,  vol.  i.  p.  45- 

*oLehr,  H.,  Protestants  d'autrefois :  vie  et  institutions  militaires. 
Paris,  1901,  p.  95. 


52  FRENCH    protestantism:    I559-I562  [46O 

be  constantly  kept  on  the  Guyenne  coast.*^  Toulouse  and 
Agen  would  supply  one  ship  each  of  500,  200,  and  100  tons. 
The  principal  ports  of  the  sixteenth  century  were  on  small 
rivers,  the  ships  registering  a  small  tonnage.  Artillery,  he 
said,  could  be  secured  from  the  metal  clocks  dismantled  at 
Bordeaux.  To  guard  the  entrance  to  the  large  rivers,  Las- 
salle  suggested  a  floating  battery-platform  holding  five  hun- 
dred men. 

Narbonne  as  a  port  was  not  important  after  the  fifteenth 
century,  while  Montpellier  declined  just  before  the  period 
of  wars  of  religion.  Bayonne  secured  horses,  silks,  and 
spices  from  Spam.  The  Basques  were  splendid  sailors, 
and  their  villages  included  many  Huguenots.  Marseilles  ex- 
ported wood,  wine,  cloth,  wool,  oil,  carpets,  saffron,  soap, 
and  iron.  Her  imports  included  spices,  silks,  sugar,  leather, 
oils,  wheat,  ostrich  plumes,  and  coral  from  Africa,  and  from 
the  Levant,  gum,  figs,  aromatics,  sponges,  and  Cyprus  wines. 
Orleans,  inland,  was  a  great  trading  center.  In  November, 
1560,  the  king  imposed  upon  the  Protestant  stronghold, 
"  ce  nombril  du  royaume,"  a  tax  of  10,000  francs*^  and  de- 
manded 100,000  more  with  which  to  pay  his  troops.*^  The 
chief  officials  were  notoriously  Protestant.  The  reform 
seems  to  have  entered  particularly  those  towns  that  had  an 
almost  ecclesiastical  complexion. 

Dijon,  on  the  other  hand,  was  a  great  commercial  town 
on  the  Savoyard  frontier,  with  many  nationalities  in  its 
working  and  commercial  classes.  The  Geneva  influence  was 
paramount,  and  the  first  Protestants  there  came  from  among 
the  artisans. 

From  these  ports  and  towns  were  despatched  the  expedi- 
tions with  which  Coligny  hoped  to  build  a  colonial  empire. 
In  Brazil,  Florida,  Madagascar,  Canada,  Africa,  and  the 
Indies,  the  Protestants  played  a  preponderant  part.     Stu- 

41  Archives  historiques  du  department  de  la  Gironde.  35  vols., 
Bordeaux,  1859  et  seq. ;  vol.  i,  p.  120. 

*2  Aumale,  due  D',  Histoire  des  Princes  de  Conde  pendant  les  XVIe 
et  XVIIe  siecles.    2  vols.,  Paris,  1863-4;  vol.  i,  p.  104. 

*3  Great  Britain,  Cal.  St.  P.  For.,  No.  726,  Nov.  18,  1560. 


46 1 3  THE   RESOURCES    OF   THE    HUGUENOTS  53 

dents,  diplomats  ,soldiers,  doctors,  merchants,  and  workmen, 
fleeing  abroad  to  escape  persecution  at  home,  were  fitting 
into  the  unselfish  plans  of  the  great  Huguenot  admiral. 
The  latter  had  been  declared  judge  of  war  and  merchandise 
on  the  sea  in  I549,  just  as  commerce  was  making  great  for- 
ward strides.^*  Courts  and  chambers  of  commerce  were  in- 
stituted by  Charles  IX  in  1563,  at  a  time  when  customs 
duties  were  becoming  a  regular  instrument  of  governmental 
finance  and  police,  but  influences  were  already  at  work  to 
cripple  the  trade  of  the  Huguenots.  The  ordinances  of 
1552  and  1567  prohibited  the  import  into  France  of  cloth 
of  gold,  silver,  silk,  and  cloth,  while  the  exportation  of 
wool  and  "  chanvre  "  was  forbidden  "  without  special  per- 
mission of  the  king"  (that  is,  of  the  Guises).  The  customs 
in  Protestant  Normandy  were  equivalent  to  one-third  of  the 
value,  so  that  the  peasants  were  forced  to  leave  Picardy  and 
Normandy  on  account  of  the  imposts.*''^ 

Protestant  expeditions  established  spheres  of  influence  in 
North  America,  the  Indies,  the  Levant,  north  and  northwest 
Africa,  Spain,  England,  and  Scandinavia.  The  religious 
and  commercial  program  actuating  every  sincere  Huguenot 
was  simply  expressed  by  an  average  draper,  quoted  by  La- 
planche  :*"  "  But  in  all  affairs  in  which  those  of  the  religion 
try  luck  with  us,  I  consider  them  brothers  and  good  friends. 
I  know  of  a  good  number  of  our  trade,  who  before  they 
were  separated  from  our  religion  were  as  honest  people  as 
it  is  possible  to  find.  I  begin  with  the  third  estate.  The 
merchants  traffic  with  foreign  nations,  gain  the  friendship 
of  kings,  find  out  news,  enterprises,  and  deportment  of  the 
same,  and  acquire  experience  in  several  things.  Silver  and 
gold  come  from  that.  While  a  gendarme  hazards  his  life 
once  in  a  while,  the  merchants  risk  theirs  ceaselessly.  The 
wisest  and  most  learned  in  virtue  and  prudence  were  once 
merchants,  like  Solon  and  Plato." 

So  vast  was  the  project  of  Coligny  and  his  followers  that 

4*  Levasseur,  Commerce,  vol.  i,  p.  194. 
*5  Relations  .  .  .  venetiens,  vol.  i,  p.  407. 
*^  Laplanche,  vol.  ii,  p.  239. 


54  FRENCH  protestantism:  1559-1562  [462 

Montaigne  was  impelled  to  write:  "J'ai  peur  que  nous 
ayons  les  yeux  plus  grandes  que  le  ventre,  et  plus  de  curi- 
osite  que  de  capacite."  Yet,  with  all  this  extended  horizon, 
Africa  was  easily  the  cynosure  of  the  Protestant  advance. 
The  Barbary  states,  opposite  Marseilles,  first  appealed  to  the 
French.  Two  merchants  of  that  town,  Carlin  Didier  and 
Thomas  Sinches,  began  to  traffic  with  the  coast  tribes. 
They  obtained  the  Sultan's  consent  to  establish  coral  fish- 
eries near  the  isle  of  Tabarca,  in  1560,  immediately  follow- 
ing the  treaty  of  Cateau-Cambresis.  They  then  founded  an 
exchange  station  and  coral  fishing  twelve  leagues  east  of 
Bone,  the  "  Bastion  de  France."*^  The  coral  of  Algeria 
was  known  in  antiquity.  Ezekiel  refers  to  it  in  describ- 
ing the  commerce  of  Tyre.  In  Rome  it  was  worn  as  an 
amulet  to  keep  off  diseases  and  lightning.  There  had  been 
coral  fishing  all  during  the  middle  ages  by  Christians  ofif 
Algeria  and  Tunisia,  the  best  species  being  obtainable  off 
the  rocks  of  Morsa-el-Kharaz.*"  By  many  it  was  preferred 
to  the  Venetian,  Neapolitan,  Sicilian,  and  Ceutan. 

French  merchants  at  Algiers  imported  oil  and  olives 
from  Tunis ;  dried  beef  and  butter  from  Bone ;  dates  and 
garments  for  the  Moors  from  Constantine ;  dried  fruits  from 
Numidia ;  cheeses  from  Majorca;  different  colored  mantles 
from  Tlemsen ;  gold,  silver,  honey,  and  sugar  from  Fez 
and  Tetuan.^"  From  Europe  they  introduced  cloths  of 
striking  colors,  carved  woods  and  tables,  silks  and  brocades, 
saffron,  cottons,  furs,  quicksilver  from  Istria,  iron  work, 
and  trinkets.  The  best  medium  of  exchange  between  the 
Arabs  and  French  was  firearms,  in  which  trade  the  Protest- 
ant element  did  not  heed  the  papal  bulls  which  forbade  the 
sending  of  arms  to  Africa.  Constantine,  in  north  central 
Algeria,  not  finally  wrested  from  the  Arabs  until  1837,  was 
a  great  commercial  center  in  the  sixteenth  century.     It  ex- 

47  Levasseur,  Commerce,  vol.  i,  chap,  iii-iv. 

*^  La  Primaudaie,  La  Commerce  et  le  navigation  de  I'Algerie  avant 
la  conquete  frangaise.    2  vols.,  Paris,  1865 ;  vol.  ii,  p.  i. 

49  Boutin,  Anciennes  Relations  commerciales  de  la  France  avec 
Barbaric.     Paris,  1902,  p.  285. 

^^  La  Primaudaie,  p.  190. 


4633  "^^^    RESOURCES    OF   THE    HUGUENOTS  55 

ported  alum,  resin,  figs,  dates,  leather,  fine  wood,  table 
cloths,  bed  spreads,  tunics,  soaps,  horses,  perfumed  woods. 
Gold  and  precious  stones  were  brought  from  the  famous 
gorge  of  the  Rummel,  which  today  is  spanned  by  a  bridge 
second  in  height  only  to  that  at  Victoria  Falls.  Other  native 
products  included  silk  stuffs,  spices,  cotton,  essences,  arms, 
bernous,  carpets,  fruits,  and  tin  at  the  same  time.  It  is  safe 
to  say  that  the  Protestants  seldom  indulged  in  the  most 
lucrative  of  all  African  trades,  that  in  slaves. 

The  provinces  of  Dauphiny  and  Provence  sent  many 
traders  to  Bougie,  another  Algerian  coast  port.  This  town 
was  noted  for  its  leather,  wool,  oils,  and  wax,  but  was  strictly 
ruled  by  the  Mohammedans.  While  the  muezzins  called 
from  the  minarets  the  invitation  to  prayer  each  Friday,  the 
foreign  shops  had  to  be  closed  with  the  French  inside.  True 
to  the  Koran,  the  Moslems  vexed  their  merchant  guests  as 
much  as  possible,  but  in  spite  of  the  law  the  Arabs  of 
Bougie  liked  the  wine  from  Marseilles  and  Bordeaux. 
Rigorous  duties  were  imposed  upon  the  merchants  to  the 
extent  of  one-tenth  the  value  of  exports  and  imports. 
Agreements  were  entered  into  from  time  to  time  and  the 
Mohammedans  liked  the  "  treaties,"  for  every  renewal  meant 
new  presents.  On  the  other  hand  Moorish  corsairs  con- 
stantly cruised  off  Dauphiny  and  Provence,  on  the  lookout 
for  slaves.  Roman  Catholic  captives  were  preferred,  for 
the  Algerines  were  under  the  impression  that  the  confession 
rendered  them  more  faithful  and  obedient.  Some  masters 
even  required  that  their  slaves  go  to  mass.^^  At  the  same 
time  French  slaves  were  cheaper,  for  the  emirs  never  knew 
when  the  French  king  might  withdraw  them  by  treaty, 
although  the  corsairs  only  observed  the  agreements  when 
they  pleased. 

Mas-Latrie  gives  a  similar  list  of  the  exports  and  im- 
ports of  French  north  Africa.^-  Slaves,  salt  fish,  horns, 
leather,    wheat,    barks,    sugar,    wax,    cloth,    tinctoral    sub- 

^^  La  Primaudaie,  p.  196. 

52  De  Mas-Latrie,  Traites  de  Paix  et  Commerce  avec  les  Arabes 
au  Moyen  Age,  vol.  i,  p.  397. 


56  FRENCH  protestantism:  1 559-1 562  [464 

stances,  herbs,  basket  work,  salt,  metals,  fruit,  carpets,  went 
to  be  sold  in  France.  Mauretania  received  arms,  birds-of- 
chase,  money,  perfume,  mercury,  hardware,  wood,  metal, 
precious  metals,  dyes,  wines,  cereals,  medicines,  glasses, 
spices,  textiles,  lacquer,  jewels.  The  opportunities  of  the 
Huguenot  merchants  were  therefore  numerous  and  lucrative. 

The  foreign  trade  of  the  Protestants  in  France  penetrated 
also  into  North  and  South  America.  Even  Malaysia  was 
visited  as  early  as  1527.^^  Brazil,  as  we  have  seen,  had 
been  the  site  of  the  Protestant  expedition  under  the  traitor 
Villegagnon.  From  the  stupendous  territory  of  the  Amazon 
the  traders  took  skins,  glassware,  spices,  parrots,  rubber, 
and  a  splendid  quality  of  cotton.  The  present  French 
sphere  of  Guiana  was  anticipated  when  indigo,  dyes,  and 
pepper  were  obtained  from  the  north  coast  of  South 
America.  The  Spanish  monopoly  in  the  fabulously  rich 
land  of  the  Incas  was  threatened  when  the  French  trading 
vessels  touched  Peru  and  Chile,  furnishing  gold,  salt,  skins, 
and  silver.  Canada,  a  prolific  source,  was  neglected  during 
the  wars  except  by  fishers  of  cod  and  dealers  in  skins. 

In  the  Levant  the  French  political  and  commercial  influ- 
ences in  Moslem  states  was  predominant  in  the  sixteenth 
century.  Urged  by  the  great  Huguenot  admiral,  the 
mariners  of  France  penetrated  to  the  Aegean,  the  Black,  and 
the  Red  seas.  Always  favored  as  a  universal  language, 
French  vied  with  Arabic  in  the  Levantine  bazaars.  The 
Lion  of  St.  Mark  of  Venice  and  the  pennants  of  Genoa 
were  not  better  known  in  Greece,  Turkey,  the  Barbary 
States,  and  the  Aegean  islands  than  the  flag  of  France. 
Relations  with  Turkey  were  close.  Francis  I  had  concluded 
several  treaties  with  the  Sublime  Porte,  in  order  to  secure 
his  aid  against  Charles  V  of  Germany.  Enemies  of  France 
and  Francis  have  maliciously  hinted  that  had  not  the  differ- 
ences been  so  great,  the  French  monarch  would  have  em- 
braced Islam,  if  only  to  further  his  political  aims.  The 
contest  continued  with  others,^*  and  it  was  only  natural  that 

S3  Levasseur,  Commerce,  vol.  i,  chap.  iv. 

s*  Lettenhove,  Les  Huguenots  et  les  Gueux,  p.  10. 


4653  THE   RESOURCES    OF   THE    HUGUENOTS  57 

Henry  II  should  continue  to  thwart  the  plans  of  Spain. 
The  demonstration  off  the  Naples  coast  by  the  Turks  in 
1558  was  obviously  the  result  of  an  arrangement  with 
France,  yet  in  the  same  year  the  treaty  of  Cateau-Cambresis 
left  out  of  consideration  entirely  the  Sultan  Soliman,  and 
that  ruler  might  well  feel  that  he  was  simply  a  pawn  in 
European  politics.  To  an  ambassador  of  Henry  II,  he  sent 
this  message:  "Write  your  master  that  if  it  is  difficult  for 
old  friends  to  become  enemies  it  is  less  so  for  old  enemies 
to  become  faithful  friends. "^^  The  death  of  the  king  ended 
the  official  French  treaties  with  the  Porte.  In  1563  a 
French  envoy  to  Constantinople  was  four  years  overdue. 
Here  was  the  opportunity  of  the  Huguenots.  Skillfully  they 
emphasized  to  the  sultan  the  difference  between  Catholics 
and  Huguenots,  between  the  respective  foreign  policies  of 
the  Guises  and  court  favorites,  and  of  Coligny.  The  ad- 
miral very  probably  grasped  the  opportunity  and  allayed 
Moslem  dissatisfaction  by  installing  French  consuls  of 
Protestant  persuasion  in  the  ports  of  the  Levant. 

French  consulships  to  the  Orient  date  from  1557.^®  The 
roots  of  the  consular  institution  go  back  to  the  second  half 
of  the  middle  ages.  In  the  commercial  towns  of  Spain, 
France,  and  Italy  the  merchants  were  in  the  habit  of  ap- 
pointing by  election  one  or  more  of  their  fellow-merchants 
as  arbitrators  in  commercial  disputes,  who  were  known  as 
"  Juges  consuls "  or  "  Consuls  marchands."^'^  After  the 
crusades  Spanish,  French,  and  Italian  merchants  settled  in 
the  Levant,  built  factories,  and  introduced  the  institution  of 
consuls,  the  merchants  belonging  to  the  same  nation  electing 
their  own  consul.  The  functions  of  these  consuls  became, 
moreover,  gradually  more  extended  through  treaties,  called 
"capitulations,"  between  the  home  states  of  the  merchants 
and  the  Moslem  monarchs  on  whose  territories  these  mer- 
chants had  settled.^®     Finally  the  power  of  consuls  included 

55  St.  Priest,  L'ambassade  de  France  en  Turquie,  p.  42. 

56  Ibid.,  p.  282. 

5^  Oppenheim,  International  Law,  vol.  i,  p.  482. 

68  Sir  Travers  Twiss,  The  Law  of  Nations,  vol.  i,  sees.  253-263. 


58  FRENCH  protestantism:  1 559-1 562  [466 

the  whole  civil  and  criminal  jurisdiction  over,  and  protection 
of,  the  privileges,  the  life,  and  the  property  of  their  country- 
men. The  institution  of  consuls  spread  to  the  west  during 
the  century  preceding  the  French  religious  wars.  Soon 
after  the  period  of  Coligny  permanent  legations  were  re- 
sponsible for  the  decline  of  the  importance  of  the  consular 
office.  In  European  states  the  functions  of  the  latter  now 
shrank  into  supervision  of  the  commerce  and  navigation  of 
their  home  countries.  In  Mohammedan  states,  however, 
consuls  not  only  retained  their  original  jurisdiction,  but  b}^ 
treaties  and  custom  secured  exterritoriality,  inviolability, 
ceremonial  honors,  and  miscellaneous  rights.  Their  posi- 
tion in  non-Christian  states  was  from  every  angle  excep- 
tional, not  agreeing  with  early  or  modern  principles  of  inter- 
national law  otherwise  universally  acknowledged.  This  was 
naturally  necessary  since  the  ideas  of  justice  of  Moslem 
states  were  far  from  approximating  the  Christian  ideas ;  the 
foreigner's  life,  honor,  and  goods  were  constantly  in 
jeopardy  without  the  intervention  of  the  consul  in  the  native 
courts. 

In  1568  Bodin  wrote:  "French  merchants  have  shops  at 
Alexandria,  Cairo,  Beirut,  Tripoli,  and  are  credited  at  Fez 
and  Morocco  the  same  as  Spaniards. ^^  The  Barbary  States 
and  Egypt  comprised  only  a  portion  of  the  Mohammedan 
market  exploited  'by  the  Protestants  under  the  surveillance 
of  Coligny.  The  rich  field  of  Asia  Minor  was  entered  from 
the  north  through  the  Black  Sea  ports  of  Trebizond  and 
Samsun,  from  the  west  through  the  commodious  harbor 
of  Smyrna,  from  the  south  by  way  of  Adalia,  Tarsus,  and 
Mersina.  From  the  days  of  the  crusaders  French  mer- 
chants had  frequented  the  bazaars  of  Damascus,  the  oldest 
city  in  the  world.  The  elaborate  products  of  Syria  were 
exchanged  for  French  wheat,  salt,  fish,  wool,  cloth,  and 
wines.  From  Cyprus  the  western  sailors  took  the  wines  of 
Famagusta.  The  Aegean  islands  of  Lemnos,  Mitylene, 
Chios,  Samos,  and  Rhodes  were  regular  ports  of  call.     The 

59  Levasseur,  Commerce,  vol.  i,  p.  204. 


467]  THE    RESOURCES    OF   THE    HUGUENOTS  59 

Turkish  lands  of  the  Mediterranean  border  suppHed  the 
Protestants  with  Damascene  blades,  steel,  granulated  metals, 
brass,  iron,  wire,  flint,  tinplate,  and  white  lead — all  valuable 
assets  in  the  wars  of  religion.  The  Huguenot  vessels  also 
imported  from  the  Levant  needles.  Angora  camlets,  crock- 
ery, spikenard,  verdigris,  ambergris,  quicksilver,  cork,  quin- 
quina, tartar,  tutty,  spirits,  furs,  linen,  cloth,  dyed  woods, 
camphor,  tortoise  shell,  syrup,  coralwork,  almonds,  and 
plums."" 

Not  only  the  Mediterranean  border  of  Africa,  but  the 
remoter  parts  as  well  formed  a  magnet  for  the  early  Protest- 
ants. Ten  years  after  Luther  nailed  up  the  theses  at  Wit- 
tenburg  we  find  record  of  the  French  at  Madagascar,  which 
now  belongs  to  France.  Even  at  Sumatra  and  other  smaller 
islands  of  the  Malaysian  archipelago  there  were  French 
mariners  only  thirty-five  years  after  the  discovery  of 
America.  As  the  result  of  the  foresight  and  expansion 
policy  of  Coligny,  France  in  191 5  has  in  Africa  one  of  the 
mightiest  empires  of  any  age.  The  French  sailor-merchants 
exploited  not  only  the  north  coast,  from  Morocco  to  Egypt, 
but  the  Protestants  soon  pressed  beyond  the  fringe.  Cape 
Town,  6000  miles  from  Tunis,  and  the  4000-mile  east-to- 
west  parallel  between  Capes  Guardafui  and  Verde  were  soon 
charted  by  the  aides  of  Coligny.  The  magnificent  distances 
attempted  by  the  explorers  and  traders  would  have  terrified 
their  fellows  in  France.  Consider  the  broad  northern  half 
of  the  supercontinent.  The  traveler  mounts  a  mehari  camel, 
from  time  immemorial  the  "  desert  express."  The  day's 
journey  will  average  fifty  miles.  Six  weeks  are  spent  on 
the  trip  from  Algiers  due  south  to  the  mouth  of  the  Niger. 
Eight  weeks  are  consumed  in  the  journey  from  the  town 
of  Dakar,  at  Cape  Verde,  the  westernmost  point  of  the  con- 
tinent, due  east  to  the  western  edge  of  Darfur,  the  extreme 
boundary  of  the  Egyptian  Sudan.  The  trade  route  from 
Tangier,  opposite  Gibraltar,  southeast  to  Ubanghi-Shari,  the 
very  center  of  the  continent,  can  not  be  traveled  in  less  than 

00  St.  Priest,  p.  327. 


6o  FRENCH  protestantism:  1559-1562  [468 

sixty-two  days,  though  equivalent  to  the  distance  from  NeAV 
York  to  Seattle.  Huge  kingdoms  of  the  Sudan  awaited  in 
1560,  as  now,  a  mercantile  wedge.  To  the  uninitiated  it  is 
staggering  to  know  that  the  area  of  the  ten  primary  Sudanese 
divisions  extends  over  two  million  square  miles.  Beginning 
in  the  east  we  find  Kordofan,  the  size  of  England ;  Darfur, 
of  France ;  Wadai,  of  Italy  and  Ireland ;  Bagirmi,  of  Spain ; 
Kanem,  of  Greece  and  Denmark;  Adamawa,  of  European 
Turkey ;  Bornu,  of  Portugal ;  Sokoto,  of  Japan ;  Gando,  of 
Scotland  and  Ireland ;  Nupe,  of  Bulgaria.^^  Fate  decreed 
that  the  Huguenots,  exiles  from  their  home  shores,  should 
lay  the  foundation  of  an  enormous  colonial  domain  in 
Africa.  Today  the  Sahara  is  a  PVench  sphere,  as  large  as 
the  United  States  of  America.  Morocco,  Algeria,  and 
Tunisia  are  equivalent  to  the  Middle  and  South  Atlantic 
states,  besides  Ohio  and  Kentucky.  The  last  named  state 
is  only  one-twenty-fifth  the  size  of  French  West  Africa. 
The  French  Congo  is  eight  times  as  large  as  Illinois,  while 
two  states  like  Michigan  could  be  carved  from  the  Ivory 
coast. 

What  were  the  incentives  to  trade  in  territory  which  even 
three  and  a  half  centuries  after  Conde  and  Coligny  is  en- 
titled the  "  Dark  Continent "  ?  To  enumerate  exports  from 
France  to  west  and  central  Africa  would  be  to  reiterate  th, 
list  of  staples  which  the  Huguenots  carried  to  all  lands  of 
the  Mediterranean  basin  and  north  Europe.  The  gold  of 
Ophir  and  the  lure  of  Ethiopia  and  Abyssinia,  the  possible 
home  of  the  queen  of  She'ba,  were  powerful  attractions. 
Moreover,  the  ostracized  Protestants  had  very  real  ideas  of 
revivifying  the  remnant  of  the  Christian  church  along  the 
north  and  northeast  borders  of  Africa.  In  the  year  200 
nine  hundred  churches  had  flourished  along  the  African 
margins  of  the  Red  and  Mediterranean  Seas.  Even  Arabia 
as  far  as  Muscat  was  inoculated  with  the  new  doctrine. 
Meropius,  a  Tyrian  savant,  was  responsible  in  320  for  the 
penetration  of  Christianity  into  Abyssinia,  which  today  most 

61  H.  Karl  W.  Kumm,  The  Sudan,  London,  1907,  p.  63. 


469I  THE   RESOURCES    OF   THE    HUGUENOTS  6 1 

distinctly  of  any  African  kingdom  reveals  traces  of  that 
pioneer  effort  in  the  form  of  the  Coptic  church.*'-  The 
dominion  of  Mohammed  rose  in  the  seventh  century,  and 
the  native  churches,  without  the  bulwark  of  a  gospel  in  the 
vernacular,  speedily  succumbed  before  the  Koran  and  the 
sword  of  Islam.  The  Coptic  elements  in  Algeria,  Egypt, 
Nubia,  and  Abyssinia  formed  the  nucleus  around  which  the 
Huguenots  hoped  to  build  strong  Protestant  communities. 

For  the  moment,  however,  we  are  more  concerned  with 
their  mercantile  prowess.  Levasseur  says  that  the  French 
went  to  the  Guinea  coast  for  powder  of  gold,  ivory,  and 
gums.'^  Senegambia  and  the  fertile  Sudanese  kingdoms 
contributed  then,  as  now,  a  wealth  of  vegetable  products  to 
the  mother  country.  Maize,  said  by  Santa  Rosa  de  Viterbo 
to  have  been  introduced  by  the  Arabs  into  Spain  in  the 
thirteenth  century  and  thence  by  slave  dealers  into  West 
Africa,  grew  to  the  height  of  five  or  six  feet.  From  it  the 
natives  baked  bread  and  brewed  a  kind  of  sour  beer. 
Millet,  one  of  the  earliest  bread-making  grains  known,  has 
always  been  a  tropical  African  product.  Cultivated  and 
"  hunger  "  rice  was  exported  from  equatorial  Africa.  Ac- 
cording to  a  statement  contained  in  a  manuscript  belonging 
to  the  Bibliotheque  Nationale  in  Paris,  the  use  of  coffee 
was  known  at  a  period  so  remote  as  875  A.  D.  A  parch- 
ment of  1566  credited  to  an  Arab  sheik  stated  that  a  knowl- 
edge of  coffee  was  first  brought  into  Arabia  from  Abyssinia 
about  the  beginning  of  the  fifteenth  century.  The  Moslems 
of  Arafeia  and  West  Africa  were  not  unanimously  in  favor 
of  the  new  beverage.  Many  used  it  as  an  antisoporific  during 
the  strenuous  abnegation  of  the  annual  month  of  Ramadan. 
Others  held  it  to  be  an  intoxicant,  and  in  consequence  a 
violation  of  the  Koran.  The  priests  were  fiercely  hostile 
because  the  coffee-houses  exerted  a  depressing  influence 
upon  attendance  at  the  mosques.  The  coffee  bought  by  the 
French  in  the  western  Sudan  was  the  equal  of  the  Javanese 

*~  Frederic  Perry  Noble,  The  Redemption  of  Africa,  vol.  i,  p.  25. 
•3  Levasseur,  Commerce,  vol.  i,  p.  208. 


62  FRENCH  protestantism:  1559-1562  [470 

and  Cingalese  brands,  and  second  only  to  the  famous  Mocha 
of  the  Arabian  Yemen. 

Cotton  has  grown  wild  in  the  Sudan  for  many  centuries. 
Arab  slave  dealers  introduced  it  from  India,  where  it  had 
been  used  in  domestic  manufactures  five  centuries  before  the 
Christian  era,  into  Egypt  and  then  West  Africa.  In  1560 
Guicciardini,  in  a  very  full  list  which  he  gives  of  the  dif- 
ferent articles  annually  imported  into  and  exported  from 
Antwerp,  then  the  greatest  commercial  mart  in  Europe,  men- 
tions cottons  among  the  goods  obtained  from  Venice  and 
Genoa.  Their  sailors  had  brought  it  from  Africa  and 
Arabia.  We  know  that  Protestant  refugees  from  France 
carried  cotton  manufacture  to  England  at  the  close  of  the 
sixteenth  century.  The  Huguenot  traders  found  in  Africa 
the  leading  species  of  cotton,  and  the  French  Protestants 
became  admittedly  leaders  in  the  European  cloth  industry. 
Their  best  African  cotton  was  obtained  from  the  region  of 
Lake  Chad. 

Guinea  corn,  one  of  the  Sudanese  staples,  was  sent  to 
France  after  the  December  harvests.  Ground  nuts  were 
cultivated  everywhere  and  exported  to  France  with  and 
without  the  husks.  The  oils  extracted  from  them  took  the 
place  of  olive  oil,  though  the  latter  had  been  introduced  into 
all  Africa  from  Palestine  in  Biblical  times.  The  chief  con- 
diment which  contributed  to  the  characteristic  gastronomy 
of  France  was  pepper.  Ashanti  pepper,  although  bearing 
the  name  of  the  Gold  Coast  colony,  has  always  occurred 
most  abundantly  in  the  country  of  the  Niam-Niam  ("great 
eaters"),  a  more  or  less  cannibal  race  in  north  central 
Africa.  This  brand  dififers  from  black  pepper  in  being 
smaller  and  less  wrinkled,  but  has  the  same  pungency,  due 
to  a  resin.  It  was  imported  from  the  Grain  Coast  (modern 
Liberia  and  Sierra  Leone)  by  merchants  of  Rouen  and 
Dieppe — later  two  strongly  Protestant  towns — as  early  as 
1364.  Ebony  wood  was  another  article  of  export  to  France, 
as  it  was  to  the  Orient  in  the  days  of  Herodotus.^* 

6*  Herodotus,  Bk.  iii,  chap.  97. 


47l]  THE    RESOURCES    OF   THE    HUGUENOTS  63 

Two  Other  commodities  which  were  taken  from  Africa 
by  the  Protestant  sailors  were  rubber  and  palm  oil.  Twenty- 
one  varieties  of  trees  are  available  in  the  Sudan  from  which 
rubber  can  be  obtained,''^  and  some  have  always  abounded 
in  tropical  Africa,  particularly  in  the  Senegal  and  Congo 
basins.  The  product  was  already  known  for  Herrera, 
on  the  second  trip  with  Columbus,  mentions  it  in  Hayti,"" 
while  Torquemada  in  a  work  of  161 5  describes  the  trees 
found  in  Mexico.*''^  Oil  from  the  palms  of  French  Mada- 
gascar and  West  Africa  must  have  been  sent  to  the  mother 
country  at  an  early  date.  For  centuries  the  utility  of  palms 
to  inhabitants  of  the  tropics  had  been  noteworthy.  They 
furnished  shelter,  clothing,  food,  fiber,  sugar,  timber,  fuel, 
building  material,  dyes,  starch,  oil,  wax,  wine,  resin,  and 
many  minor  products. 

The  oldest  trade  routes  in  Africa  were  created  for  traffic 
in  salt.  Herodotus  tells  us  of  the  caravan  trails  connecting 
the  salt  oases  of  the  Libyan  desert.^^  In  the  time  of 
Coligny,  twenty  centuries  later,  and  even  today,  the  Sahara 
caravan  trade  is  largely  a  traffic  in  that  product.  In  1560 
the  Protestants  who  entered  the  Sudan  and  eastern  Africa 
found  cakes  of  salt  being  used  as  currency,  just  as  it  had 
been  in  Abyssinia  in  the  days  of  Marco  Polo.  One  writer 
states  that  in  Timbuctoo  and  Kano,  in  1560,  a  camel  load 
of  salt  (200  kilograms)  was  worth  eighty-four  ducats.^® 
Timbuctoo,  over  a  thousand  miles  from  the  Atlantic  by  way 
of  the  Senegal  and  Niger  systems,  was  at  the  converging 
point  of  the  main  trade  routes  from  the  Gulf  of  Guinea  and 
from  the  Mediterranean  across  the  western  Sahara.  The 
Huguenots  sent  out  by  Coligny  traded  at  Timbuctoo  at  a 
time  when  it  was  the  capital  of  the  short  lived  Sonrhai 
empire  and  the  chief  centre  of  Moslem  culture  for  the  na- 
tions of  the  western  Sudan.     Salt  was  the  great  staple  of 

65  Kumm,  p.  166. 

^^  Herrera,  Historia,  Bk.  iii,  chap.  iv. 

67  Torquemada,  De  la  Monarquia  Indiana.  Madrid,  1723;  vol.  ii, 
p.  663. 

68  Herodotus,  Bk.  iv,  chap.  181. 
6^  La  Primaudaie,  p.  196. 


64  FRENCH  protestantism:  1 559-1 562  [472 

trade.  With  this  commodity  and  cowry  shells,  an  ancient 
and  modern  African  currency,  the  natives  secured  products 
of  European  manufacture.  Salt  was  always  welcomed  by 
the  French  Protestants,  for  the  home  supplies  of  the  Vosges 
and  the  Pyrenees  were  dominated  by  the  Roman  Catholic 
Guises  of  Lorraine  and  by  Philip  of  Spain,  respectively. 
Kano,  the  other  important  Sudanese  trade  centre,  lay  eight 
hundred  miles  by  caravan  route  southeast  of  Timbuctoo,  and 
half  that  distance  west  of  Lake  Chad. 

Of  French  trade  with  European  nations  in  the  middle  of 
the  sixteenth  century  the  most  significant  part  was  with 
Spain.  Besides  Castile,  Aragon,  Navarre,  Naples,  Sicily, 
Sardinia,  Milanais,  Roussillon  and  Franche-Comte,  and  the 
Netherlands,  Spain  had  under  its  jurisdiction  Oran,  the 
islands  of  Madeira,  Canary,  St.  Helena,  Fernando  Po,  and 
Anno  Bom;  Mexico,  Peru,  New  Grenada,  Chile,  Paraguay, 
Cuba,  la  Plata,  Domingo,  Martinique,  Guadalope,  Jamaica, 
and  the  Philippines.  In  1557  France  and  Spain  were  the 
two  great  powers  of  the  age :  France  excelled  in  land  forces, 
while  Spain  boasted  the  larger  navy.^°  Then,  on  St.  Law- 
rence's Day,  1557,  the  town  of  St.  Quentin  was  captured  by 
the  Spainards,  and  the  event  commemorated  by  the  incep- 
tion of  the  gloomy  and  labyrinthian  palace  of  the  Escorial, 
outside  Madrid.  The  capture  of  St.  Quentin  opened  for 
France  a  period  of  forty  years  subserviency  to  Spain.''^ 
Many  patriots  excoriated  the  signers  of  the  humiliating 
treaty  of  Cateau-Cambresis,  concluded  in  1559.  By  the 
terms  of  peace  Francis  gave  Marienbourg,  Thionville,  Dam- 
villiers,  and  Montmedy  in  exchange  for  St.  Quentin,  Ham, 
Catelet,  and  Therouanne.  It  gave  without  price  Bouvigny 
and  Bouillon  to  the  bishop  of  Liege,  while  Spain  retained 
Hesdin.  In  Italy,  France  evacuated  Milanais,  Montferrat, 
Corsica,  Montalcino,  Sienna,  Savoy,  Bresse,  Bugey,  and  all 
of  Piedmont  except  five  towns.'^^     Calais  remained  French. 

"">  Baschet,  La  diplomatic  venetienne,  p.  238. 
■^1  Whitehead,  Gaspard  de  Coligny.    London,  1904,  p.  61. 
■^2  Ruble,  Baron  de,  Traite  de  Cateau-Cambresis.     Paris,  1889,  pp. 
27,  196. 


473^  THE   RESOURCES    OF   THE    HUGUENOTS  65 

Another  stipulation  was  that  Philip  and  Henry  II  should 
obtain  from  the  Pope  the  convocation  of  a  universal  council. 
This  was  to  crush  them,  said  the  Protestants. 

In  spite  of  the  new  subservience  of  France  to  her  neigh- 
bor, Spain  offered  a  very  promising  field  for  Huguenot 
trade.  The  decadence  of  agriculture  and  industry  in  Spain 
and  Portugal  was  marked.  Farming  declined  on  account 
of  decreasing  population,  devastation  by  troops,  and  the  emi- 
gration caused  by  the  inquisition.  For  example,  in  1553  the 
kingdom  of  Navarre  had  but  154,000  inhabitants.'^^  The 
decay  of  industry  was  attributable  to  the  high  price  of  work, 
increased  imports,  the  prohibition  against  selling  manu- 
factures abroad,  the  prejudice  against  the  mechanical  arts, 
and  most  of  all,  to  the  new  infusion  of  wealth  from  the 
colonies.  Galleons  of  Philip  II  made  him  the  richest  in 
gold  of  any  monarch,  but  he  left  the  crown  charged  with 
de'bts  and  embarrassed  in  a  thousand  ways.'*  The  new 
influx  of  gold  and  silver  had  made  Spain  neglect  her  ancient 
industries.  Portugal  was  so  enervated  from  the  same  cause 
that  the  kingdom,  far  from  profiting  by  the  sacrifices  of 
Vasco  de  Gama  and  Albuquerque,  actually  was  annexed  by 
Philip  in  1580.  Moreover,  the  disastrous  expedition  led  by 
the  duke  of  Medina-Coeli  against  Dragut  in  North  Africa 
in  1559,  the  year  of  the  first  war  of  religion  in  France, 
exerted  a  depressing  effect  upon  Spanish  industry.  Into 
this  new  field  flocked  many  French  workmen,  especially  from 
Auvergne  and  Limousin.  The  fact  that  numbers  of  the 
best  artisans  of  France,  the  Huguenots,  fled  abroad  to  escape 
persecution,  did  not  deter  them  from  venturing  into  the 
home  of  the  Inquisition.  In  Aragon  and  Navarre  nearly 
all  the  carpenters,  turners,  stonecutters,  masons,  vinedressers, 
drivers,  saddlers,  rope-makers,  harness-makers,  and  wheel- 
wrights were  French."  The  Moors  had  introduced  into 
Spain  silk,  rice,  cotton  and  sugar,  while  their  canals  for 

^■3  Weiss,  L'Espagne  depuis  la  regne  de  Philippe  II,  vol.  i,  p.  21. 

'*  Baschet,  Diplomatic,  p.  238. 

■'^  Levasseur,  Commerce,  vol.  i,  p.  208. 

5 


66  FRENCH  protestantism:  1559-1562  [474 

inland  trade  antedated  those  in  France  constructed  under 
the  direction  of  da  Vinci.  Much  of  the  cotton,  oHve  oil, 
oranges,  almonds,  dried  grapes,  spices,  confitures  exported 
to  Bordeaux,  Bayonne,  and  Toulouse  by  Spain  was  prepared 
by  Frenchmen.  Spain  procured  wheat,  salt  meat,  pastel, 
linen,  wool,  paper,  and  hardware  from  France.'^"  Carcas- 
sone  and  Perpignan  furnished  fine  cloths.  Spanish  silks 
ceased  to  figure  in  the  French  importations  about  1560. 

France  had  been  tributary  to  Venice  for  glass  and  cloth. 
To  the  cloth  of  Tuscany,  however,  succeeded  that  of  Lan- 
guedoc,  Picardy,  and  Normandy.  All  that  France  had  to 
oppose  to  Italian,  Spanish,  and  Flemish  industries  at  the 
beginning  of  the  sixteenth  century  were  some  silk  factories 
at  Lyons,  Nimes,  and  Tours ;  glass  factories  at  Argonne  and 
in  Burgundy  and  Agenois ;  fine  sculptured  furniture  at  Paris, 
Rouen,  and  Tours ;  and  admirable  enamels  at  Limoges.'^ 
Her  artists  were  rivals  of  the  Italians  in  the  trade  without 
being  their  equals.  In  1500  there  were  no  industrial  work- 
men comparable  to  those  at  Rome,  Florence,  Milan,  and 
Venice.  By  1560  the  Huguenot  artisans  would  have  to  be 
included  in  this  category.  Paris  had  approached  Venice  in 
printing  with  eight  hundred  publishing  houses  while  Lyons 
boasted  quite  as  many.  Silk  and  glass  factories  were  being 
founded  at  Lyons. '^^  Although  their  country  was  to  be  de- 
pendent upon  Italy  for  many  years  for  scarlet  cloth  and 
articles  de  luxe,  the  French  dyers  turned  out  600,000  pieces 
in  1560. 

Flanders  sent  to  the  Huguenots  armor,  trappings,  cotton, 
serges,  linen,  carpets,  morocco  leather,  and  lace.'^  Alsace- 
Lorraine,  just  as  today,  traded  more  with  France  than 
beyond  the  Rhine.  The  formidable  Protestant  cavalry  de- 
pended upon  Germany  and  the  Low  Countries  for  war 
steeds.  The  latter  country  exported  a  tremendous  amount 
of  salt  herrings  to  France.     French  wine-casks  filled  with 

'"^  Levasseur,  Commerce,  vol.  i,  p.  208. 
■"^  Pigeonneau,  vol.  ii,  p.  57. 
■'■s  Baudrillart.  Luxe,  vol.  iii,  p.  440. 
^^  Levasseur,  Commerce,  p.  205. 


475]  "^^^   RESOURCES    OF   THE    HUGUENOTS  67 

Bibles,  arms,  and  gold  were  smuggled  from  Switzerland 
through  Catholic  provinces.  The  three  Scandinavian  king- 
doms bought  from  their  French  co-religionists  safran,  salt, 
pastel,  and  wine.  Linen  cloth,  wine,  and  dried  prunes  were 
included  in  French  exports  to  the  British  Isles. 

The  politics  of  protection  in  France  became  clearly  de- 
fined for  the  first  time  about  1560,  and  Protestant  manu- 
factures and  skilled  labor  were  efficacious  in  emancipating 
France  from  industrial  dependence  upon  foreign  countries. 
At  the  outbreak  of  the  first  war  of  religion  there  was  a  sen- 
sible decline  in  importations.  By  1560  the  government 
realized  that  new  sumptuary  laws  should  accompany  the 
new  policy  of  protection.  In  the  reign  of  Henry  II  pride 
in  all  the  estates  grew  with  the  acquisition  of  wealth.  The 
love  for  luxury  created  by  the  Renaissance  did  not  harmon- 
ize with  the  economic  straits  described  in  a  previous  chapter. 
Villagers  wished  to  dress  like  townsmen,  the  latter  like 
gentlemen,  and  so  on.  At  the  epoch  of  the  religious  wars, 
it  was  lamented  that  the  villagers  wore  colored  cloths  and 
sumptuous  habits,  instead  of  dressing  according  "to  their 
degree  of  laborers  and  vine-trimmers."®°  Taxes  might 
wait,  as  long  as  their  tables  contained  many  varieties  of 
viands  and  fowl.  "  The  laborer  wants  to  make  a  gentleman 
of  his  son,"  wrote  Palissy.  Accordingly,  the  government 
made  luxuries  no  less  burdensome  than  imports.  An  ordi- 
nance of  1 561  forbade  under  penalty  of  fine  all  foreign  per- 
fumes, and  gilding  on  lead,  iron,  wood,  enamels  or  jewelry. 
A  rule  of  April,  1 561,  dealt  with  embroideries,  lace,  and  silk 
robes.  The  ordinance  of  January,  1563,  prohibited  the 
wearing  of  vertegrades  of  more  than  one  ell,^^  while  one  of 
1567  forbade  garments  of  velvet  and  silks  and  the  use  of 
pearls,  unless  in  bracelets,  by  the  bourgeois.**"  There  was 
a  rapid  succession  of  eight  sumptuary  laws  between  1543 
and  1570. 

The  effect  of  piracy  upon  the  Huguenot  trade  remains 


80  Baudrillart,  Luxe,  vol.  iii,  p.  248. 

81  54  inches  in  France. 

S2  Pigeonneau,  vol.  ii,  p.  173. 


68  FRENCH  protestantism:  1559-1562  [476 

to  be  examined.  By  treaty  of  1535  France  secured  from 
the  Porte  exclusive  rights  to  coral  and  deepsea  fishing  off 
the  Moslem  coasts.  The  half  dozen  articles  referred  to 
individual  Hberty  and  responsi'bihty,  religious  liberty  and 
protection,  inviolability  of  domicile,  exemption  from  all 
taxes,  and  interdiction  from  slavery.  It  is  almost  super- 
fluous to  state  that  the  Barbary  corsairs  observed  the  treaties 
only  as  they  pleased.  Protestant  mariners  did  not  suffer 
as  much  as  Catholic,  for  the  pirates  in  their  quest  for  slaves 
were  imbued  w^ith  the  notion  that  the  religion  of  Rome  and 
faithful  servants  were  synonymous.  But  trade  in  the  Medi- 
terranean was  not  as  badly  paralyzed  as  in  the  seas  of 
Flanders,  France,  and  England.  During  the  second  period 
of  the  religious  wars  the  sea  was  no  safer  than  the  land. 
Possibly  on  account  of  a  tacit  agreement,  there  were  few 
examples  of  the  civil  conflict  of  French  vessels  at  sea. 
Rather  did  the  corsairs  of  La  Rochelle  attack  Spanish  and 
Portuguese  boats,  while  the  vessels  of  Brittany  preyed  on 
English  commerce.  The  thousands  of  piratical  acts  did  not 
cease  until  the  treaty  of  Troyes  of  April  11,  1564,  whereby 
England  accepted  120,000  gold  crowns  for  Havre.^^  On 
French  soil  the  Hundred  Years'  War  was  being  reproduced 
by  the  Spanish  and  German  soldiers  of  Philip  and  Guise. 

®3  Ruble,  Traite  de  Cateau-Cambresis,  pp.  193-194. 


CHAPTER   III 
The  Organization  of  the  Calvinists 

The  ecclesiastical  and  political  organizations  of  Calvinism 
were  identical.  The  unit  of  each  was  the  congregation. 
The  neighboring  churches  or  congregations  were  grouped 
according  to  number  and  convenience  into  colloquies,  or 
classes,  which  met  from  two  to  four  times  each  year.  The 
colloquies  of  each  province  comprised  the  "  Synods,"  while 
the  national  synod^  was  composed  of  all  the  provinces.  The 
congregations,  synods,  and  colloquies  constituted  both  taxa- 
tion units  and  military  "  cadres."^  The  temple  was  the 
center  of  the  Protestant  community,  but  unfortunately  none 
of  these  are  extant  and  they  live  only  in  descriptions.  The 
most  elaborate  example  of  Huguenot  edifices  was  the 
sumptuous  temple  erected  by  Coligny  at  Dieppe.  Reared 
in  two  months  as  a  facsimile  of  the  Coliseum  it  took  Vieille- 
ville  three  days  and  nights  to  demolish  it.^ 

The  grand  lines  of  political  division  followed  the  historic 
provincial  boundaries  of  France,  although  smaller  provinces 
and  parts  of  the  larger  ones,  such  as  Languedoc  and 
Guyenne,  were  associated.  The  first  national  synod  conven- 
ing in  Paris  in  1559,  divided  France  into  16  Protestant 
provinces,*  but  this  administrative  partition  was  efifective  for 

1  Discipline  of  Reformed  churches  in  France  Received  and  En- 
acted by  their  First  National  Synod  at  Paris  in  1554,  chap.  7,  publ. 
in  Quick,  Synodicon  in  Gallia  reformata,  2  vols.,  London,  1682. 

2  Relations  .  .  .  venetiens,  vol.  ii,  p.  11?. 

3  Floquet',  Histoire  du  Parlement  de  Normandie,  7  vols.,  Rouen, 
1840-49;  vol.  ii,  p.  331. 

4  The  Protestant  provinces  of  France  were  as  follows:  (i)  Ile-de- 
France,  Chartrain,  Picardy,  Champagne,  Brie;  (2)  Normandy;  (3) 
Brittany;  (4)  Berry.  Orleans,  Dunois,  Blesois,  Nivernais,  Bourbon- 
nais,  La  Manche ;  (5)  Anjou,  Touraine,  Loudunois,  Maine,  Ven- 
dome,  Perche;  (6)  tipper  and  Lower  Poitou ;  (7)  Saintonge.  Aunis, 
La  Rochelle,  Angoumois ;  (8)  Lower  Guyenne,  Perigord.  Gascony, 
Limousin;    (9)   Upper  and  Lower  Vivarais,  Velay  and  Le  Foret; 

69 


70  FRENCH  protestantism:  1559-1562  [478 

only  four  years,  however,  for  the  first  civil  war  demon- 
strated the  weakness  of  the  system.  Several  of  the  prov- 
inces contained  too  few  Protestants,  so  in  1563  the  map 
was  charted  into  nine  ecclesiastical  divisions.  Brittany 
added  Anjou,  Maine,  and  Touraine,  formerly  an  independent 
province.  Chartrain  was  detached  from  Ile-de-France  and 
annexed  to  Orleans.  All  the  country  watered  by  the 
Charente  was  knitted  together  by  combining  Upper  and 
Lower  Poitou  with  Saintonge,  Aunis,  and  Angoumois.  The 
Burgundian  division  absorbed  the  small  province  of  Vivarais. 
The  most  interesting  consolidation  occurred  in  the  south  of 
France  where  the  formation  of  the  huge  province  of  Lan- 
guedoc  entailed  the  obliteration  of  the  former  divisions  of 
Provence,  Dauphiny,  and  the  Cevennes.  The  only  original 
ones  unchanged  were  Normandy,  Beam,  and  Lower  Gu- 
yenne.  After  all  eliminations,  the  sixteen  geographical  di- 
visions were  reduced  to  nine:  (i)  Ile-de-France;  (2)  Nor- 
mandy; (3)  Brittany;  (4)  Orleans;  (5)  Poitou-Saintonge ; 
(6)    Lower    Guyenne ;    (7)    Languedoc;    (8)    Burgundy; 

(9)  Beam. 

The  official  beginning  of  the  Protestant  church  occurred 
at  Orleans,  in  1557.  The  center  of  France,  with  its  great 
commercial  towns,  enjoying  almost  unlimited  municipal 
privileges,  had  been  in  the  habit  of  governing  itself,  and  had 
frequently  manfiested  almost  republican  tendencies.  It  was 
to  be  expected,  therefore,  that  Orleans,  the  Protestant 
"  nombril  de  royaume,"  would  be  among  the  first  to  adopt 
the  machinery  of  Calvin's  admirable  institution,  still  a 
model  today — the  democratic  republic.  Near  the  close  of 
the  year  1558,  fifteen  months  after  the  constitution  of  the 
church  at  Orleans,  several  pastors  at  Poitiers  were  the  first 
to  speak  of  the  utility  of  a  conference  of  faith  and  discipline. 
Accordingly,  the  first  National  Synod  of  these  Protestants 

(10)  Lower  Languedoc,  including  Nimes,  Montpellier  and  Beziers ; 

(11)  Upper  Languedoc,  Upper  Guyenne,  Armagnac,  and  Upper 
Auvergne,  Toulouse,  Carcassone,  Quercy,  Rouergue;  (12)  Bur- 
gundy, Lyonnais,  Beaujolais,  Bresse,  Gex,  Lower  Auvergne;  (13) 
Provence;  (14)  Dauphiny  and  Orange;  (15)  Beam;  (16)  Cevennes 
and  Gevaudan.    Discipline,  chap.  8,  canon  15. 


479]  THE   ORGANIZATION    OF   THE    CALVINISTS  7 1 

convened  at  Paris  May  26,  1559.^  At  this  constituent  as- 
sembly, under  the  direction  of  Morel,  the  Ecclesiastical 
Discipline  and  the  Confession  of  Faith  were  prepared.^  but 
only  eleven  churches  were  represented  at  the  Faubourg  St. 
Germain,  so  perilous  were  the  timesJ  Delegates  from  only 
six  of  the  sixteen  ecclesiastical  divisions  constituted  at  the 
same  synod  were  successful  in  reaching  Catholic  Paris  in 
time  to  fulfill  their  double  mission  of  establishing  a  discipline 
and  adopting  a  confession  of  faith.  Pursuant  to  the  de- 
sires of  their  constituencies,  pastoral  and  lay  delegates  of 
Paris,  Orleans,  Dieppe,  St.  L6,  Angers,  Tours,  Chateller- 
ault,  Poitiers,  Saintes,  St.  Jean  d'Angely,  and  Morennes 
transacted  the  business  of  the  First  National  Synod. 

Each  province  established  a  synod  which  named  deputies 
to  the  national  synod,  in  which  twice  a  year  all  ministers  of 
the  provinces  assisted.  Colloquies  of  pastors  and  deacons 
were  also  held.  Consistories,  or  particular  counsels,  charged 
with  watching  the  behavior  in  each  church  comprised  four 
elders,  two  deacons,  a  secretary,  and  a  treasurer.  The 
western  provinces  of  Angoumois,  Aunis  and  Saintonge  were 
among  the  pioneers  in  establishing  the  synod.  In  church 
matters  no  church  had  any  primacy  or  jurisdiction  over 
another.®  Ministers  brought  with  them  to  local  colloquies 
or  provincial  synods  one  or  two  elders  chosen  from  their 
consistories. °  Elders  who  were  deputies  of  churches  had 
an  equal  power  of  voting  with  the  pastors.^"  The  authority 
of  a  provincial  synod  was  subordinate  to  that  of  the  national 
synod,  and  whatever  had  been  decreed  by  provincial  synods 
for  the  government  of  churches  in  their  province  had  to 
be  brought  before  the  national  synod." 

^  Crottet,  Histoire  des  Eglises  Reformees  en  Saintonge.  Bordeaux, 
1843.  p.  36. 

6  de  Beze,  Histoire  ecclesiastique  des  Eglises  Reformes,  vol.  i, 
pp.  201-220. 

■'■  Bersier,  Eugene,  Coligny  avant  les  Guerres  de  Religion.  Paris, 
1884,  p.  150. 

8  Quick,  chap.  6,  canon  i. 

^  Ibid.,  chap.  8,  canon  2. 

^•^  Ibid.,  chap.  8,  canon  8. 

11  Ibid.,  chap.  8,  canons  9,  14. 


72  FRENCH    protestantism:    I559-I562  [480 

One  of  the  few  sidelights  upon  early  ecclesiastical  organ- 
ization is  the  order  on  distribution  of  alms  of  the  Protestant 
church  of  Paris  to  the  poor  of  that  city.^-  Under  date  of 
December  lo,  1561,  are  six  provisions:  (i)  there  shall  be  a 
bureau  of  eight  notable  citizens,  assisted  by  four  inspectors 
from  the  consistory  (changed  monthly)  and  deacons;  (2) 
the  said  bureau  shall  be  elected  by  the  people  before  the 
service;  (3)  for  alms  there  shall  be  twelve  boxes,  with  a 
key;  (4)  deacons,  six  each  from  the  town  and  university, 
shall  pass  the  boxes  at  each  service;  (6)  no  other  clerks 
shall  officiate  besides  the  eight  citizens,  the  deacons,  and  the 
inspector. 

The  administration  of  the  sacrament  was  gratuitous  in 
practically  all  of  the  2150  Protestant  churches  of  1560.  In 
the  Parisian  faubourgs,  however,  the  rich  and  the  poor  were 
expected  to  pay  twenty  and  seven  sols,  respectively,  at  the 
communion  of  the  Lord's  Supper,  the  sum  to  be  employed 
for  the  needs  of  the  new  religion.^^  A  prohibition  was  the 
rejoinder  of  Antoine  of  Bourbon,  King  of  Navarre,  who 
claimed  that  the  money  should  go  for  war  and  threatened  to 
hang  the  Calvinist  pastors. 

The  strong  elements  in  the  Protestant  organization  were 
its  simplicity  and  the  universal  vigilance,  from  provincial 
chiefs  to  simple  pastors.  In  1559  Correro,  Venetian  am- 
bassador at  the  court  of  Henry  II,  wrote  to  the  Doge :  "  If 
our  priests  were  half  so  energetic,  of  a  certainty  Christianity 
would  be  in  no  danger  in  this  country."^*  A  slight  digres- 
sion may  suffice  to  impress  the  startling  contrast  between  the 
priest  and  the  pastor  of  1559. 

Indictments  of  the  clergy  of  the  state  church  were  not 
confined  to  one  sect.  "  Isn't  it  a  very  ridiculous  thing," 
asked  Chancellor  Jean  Gerson  of  the  ultra-Catholic  Uni- 
versity of  Paris,  "that  a  simoniacal,  avaricious,  lying,  exact- 
ing, lewd,  proud,  pompous  father,  in  a  word,  a  demon,  pre- 
tends to  have  the  power  to  unite  and  disunite  heaven  and 

12  Conde,  vol.  ii,  p.  535. 

13  St.  Croix,  p.  121 ;  March  31,  1562. 

1*  Relations  .  .  .  venetiens,  vol.  ii,  p.  115. 


481 3  THE   ORGANIZATION    OF   THE    CALVINISTS  73 

earth  ?"^^  Claude  Haton  cites  a  piece  of  verse  found  upon 
a  Roman  Catholic  priest  in  Mount  St.  Victor :  "  Notre 
prescheur,  au  lieu  de  prescher  I'Evangile,  ne  fait  rien  que 
rotter  I'aspre  guerre  civile.  Feu  ardent,  sang  humain  son 
estomac  vomit. "^'^  The  rabidly  anti-Calvinist  Parlement  of 
Paris  found  it  necessary  in  August,  1560,  to  issue  a  decree 
ordering  all  bishops  and  curates  to  reside  at  their  churches, 
the  former  being  prohibited  from  henceforth  proceeding 
in  the  matter  of  religion  against  anyone  except  Calvinist 
preachers  or  persons  in  whose  houses  Huguenot  meetings 
were  held.^'^  One  historian,  commenting  upon  his  own 
church,  recorded  that  "  until  the  end  of  the  war  the  benefices 
were  filled  with  soldiers,  laymen,  male  and  female  favorites. 
There  were  households  in  the  bishops'  houses  and  even  in 
the  abbeys."  The  clergy  often  stooped  to  distortion  of  the 
truth.  The  Jesuits  and  mendicant  friars  diffused  the  rumor 
that  Calvinists  had  confessed  to  eating  children.^^  Pamph- 
lets disseminated  among  the  credulous  vague  reports  of  the 
strangling  by  the  heretics  of  old  men  and  women. ^'  Catho- 
licism was  the  highest  form  of  faith,  for  consider  "  their 
great  men  for  the  past  1600  years."  What  verdict  is  ren- 
dered by  the  two  representative  Protestant  historians,  La- 
planche  and  Conde?  The  former  calls  it  the  duty  of  the  king 
to  correct  the  abuses  of  the  priests,  the  most  unlearned  and 
rude  since  Christ's  time,  "  though  some  of  them  studied  20 
years."  They  were  "  rich,  poor  in  spirit,  revelling  day  and 
night."^"  Their  mercenary  spirit  led  them  to  charge  eight 
ecus  for  baptisms,  to  sell  pardons  and  absolutions,  and  even 
prayers  and  cemetery  lots.  Ten  livres  was  a  funeral  fee. 
They  were  perfumed  like  priests  of  Venus  while  their  homes 
vied  with  courtiers'.     Conde  records  that  as  many  as  nine 

15  Henne,  Histoire  du  regne  de  Charles  V.  en  Belgique.  10  vols., 
Brussels  and  Leipzig,  1858;  vol.  iv,  p.  275. 

1^  Haton.  vol.  i,  p.  157;  Bibl.  Imperiale  (Paris)  MS..  No.  350- 

I'^Baudrillart,  Alfred,  L'Eglise  Catholique,  la  Renaissance,  le  Prot- 
estantisme.     London,  1908,  p.  124. 

IS  Castelnau,  Memoires,  1559^70,  p.  20. 

^^  Capefigue,  Histoire  de  la  Reforme,  de  la  Ligue,  et  du  Regne  de 
Henri  IV,  vol.  ii,  p.  99. 

20  Laplanche,  vol.  ii,  p.  66. 


74  FRENCH  protestantism:  1559-1562  [482 

dimes  (tithes)  were  extracted  from  the  people  in  one  year 
for  church  and  government  expenses.  "  The  priests  speak 
only  of  dimes."  On  August  23,  1560,  the  same  historian 
witnessed  that  there  were  "  forty  lazy  bishops  in  Paris " 
instead  of  in  their  dioceses.^^  They  had  sold  their  benefices 
to  "  cooks,  barbers,  and  lackeys."  The  priests  were  hateful 
to  the  people  on  account  of  their  debauchery,  greed,  and 
ignorance.  The  edict  of  July,  a  sop  to  the  priests,  was 
anachronistic  and  absurd,  for  at  a  critical  juncture  it  had  re- 
enacted  several  severe  penalties  against  conventicles.  In 
July,  1 561,  the  prelates  broke  the  rule  of  Philip  le  Long, 
passed  in  13 19,  that  ecclesiastics  should  not  enter  the  Council 
or  Parlement.^^  An  ordinance  of  the  king  of  April  22, 
1 561,  held  that  ecclesiastics  should  dress  modestly,  discard- 
ing silks  and  other  superfluous  luxuries.-^  So  ludicrous 
were  the  dress  and  actions  of  many  of  the  clergy  that  the 
young  son  of  Queen  Catherine  actually  gave  a  masquerade 
on  November  15,  1561,  in  which  he  appeared  in  a  mitre. 
The  bishop  of  St.  Croix  in  his  memoirs  deplores  the  ridicule 
thus  heaped  upon  the  clergy.^* 

In  vivid  contrast  to  that  portion  of  the  ecclesiastics  were 
those  priests  who  wavered  for  a  time  between  the  two  cur- 
rents of  Protestantism  and  Catholicism.  It  is  well  known 
that  the  Reform  was  often  the  work  of  the  Roman  clergy. 
Suspected  of  heresy  as  early  as  1542  the  convent  of  the 
Cordeliers  provoked  public  censure  from  the  ultra-Catholic 
Sorbonne  in  1540.  Such  types  were  exceptionally  superior 
to  the  rank  and  file  of  the  clergy  of  1560. 

The  mental  and  moral  preparation  of  the  Protestant 
preacher  was  very  thorough.  Examination  before  the  col- 
loquy preceded  the  election  of  pastors,  three  of  the  seven  ex- 
aminers being  from  the  candidate's  home  synod.^^  There 
being  no  age  limit,  youths  of  nineteen  and  twenty  years  be- 

21  Conde,  vol.  i,  p.  542. 

-2  Ibid.,  vol.  ii,  p.  342. 

-3  Ibid.,  vol.  ii,  p.  343. 

-*  St.  Croix,  p.  5. 
^  25  Felice,  Paul  de,  Les  Protestants  d'autrefois,  vie  interieure  des 
eglises,  moeurs  et  usages.    Paris,  1898,  p.  2. 


483]  THE    ORGANIZATION    OF   THE    CALVINISTS  75 

came  eligible.  Within  forty-eight  hours  the  candidate  must 
prepare  two  sermons,  in  French  and  Latin ;  besides,  there 
were  three  trial  sermons  at  his  future  church.  Ministers 
were  assigned  to  special  churches.-**  These  were  erected 
upon  one  principle — seat  the  most  in  the  least  space.  For 
this  reason  there  were  no  lateral  chapels.^^  In  the  Huguenot 
temples  there  were  no  images  or  crosses,  no  pew  rents.  The 
consistory  building,  sometimes  used  for  teaching,  stood  about 
one  hundred  feet  from  the  temple,  behind  which  was  the 
cemetery.  Communion  was  celebated  eight  times  a  year. 
As  to  outward  appearance,  the  Protestant  ministers  usually 
wore  long  beards ;  not  a  singularity,  for,  although  the  Sor- 
bonne  decided  against  beards  in  the  Roman  church,  in  1561, 
even  the  popes  did  not  shave.  Beards  in  other  lines  of  life 
were  attacked  by  the  press.^^ 

With  no  tribute  to  pay  to  Rome,  and  gratuitous  adminis- 
tration of  the  sacraments,  the  Protestants  could  found 
schools  and  hospitals.  This  was  not  a  new  idea,  but  Luther 
was  the  first  to  organize  schools  for  the  people.^^  They 
were  the  logical  consequence  of  the  fundamentals  of  the 
Reform.  The  Calvinist  theory  of  education  was,  however, 
in  advance  of  the  age.  The  Protestant  nobles  of  the  States- 
General  of  1560  asked  the  King  to  levy  contributions  on 
church  revenues  for  reasonable  support  of  teachers  in  every 
town  for  the  instruction  of  the  needy  youth,  and,  moreover, 
to  require  all  parents  under  penalty  to  send  their  children 
to  school.  The  demands  of  the  nobility  were  not  regarded 
and  there  was  a  long  eclipse  in  the  cause  of  public  primary 
instruction.  The  primary  school  is  the  child  of  Protestant- 
ism which  associated  knowledge  with  faith. 

The  "  petits  ecoles  "  of  1559  were  very  numerous,  although 
there  is  little  account  thereof.^*'     They  were  the  equivalent 

26  Felice,  Vie  interieure,  p.  13. 

27  Felice,  Les  Protestants  d'autrefois :  les  temples.  Paris,  1896, 
vol.  i.  p.  121. 

-^Quicherat,  J.,  Histoire  du  Costume  en  France.     Paris,  1875,  p.  369. 

29  Compayre,  Gabriel,  Histoire  critique  des  Doctrines  de  I'Educa- 
tion  en  France  depuis  le  i6e  siecle,  p.  113. 

30  Felice,  Vie  interieure,  p.  87. 


76  FRENCH  protestantism:  1559-1562  [484 

of  the  modern  primary  schools.  Childhood,  said  the  Calvin- 
ist,  is  like  an  empty  vase,  in  that  it  conserves  the  odor  of 
the  first  liquid  poured  in  it.  At  the  baptism,  in  the  temple, 
a  Biblical  rather  than  a  classical  name  was  conferred  upon 
the  infant.  At  the  age  of  five,  the  child  became  familiar 
with  Beza's  Petit  Cathechism,  and  began  to  memorize.  At 
eight,  there  were  four  hours  of  Latin  daily ;  at  nine,  arith- 
metic; at  ten,  history,  taught  by  conventional  method,  and 
geography,  with  a  globe ;  at  twelve,  geometry .^^  Luther 
always  recommended  mathematical  studies  and  was  partial 
to  history,  but  did  not  advocate  the  liberal  arts. 

There  is  no  account  of  the  instruction  of  girls,  though  the 
Reform  called  for  it.  Only  private  tutoring  is  mentioned 
in  our  period,  1559  to  1562,  although  as  early  as  1541  there 
were  girls'  schools  in  Geneva.  There  seem  to  have  been 
mixed  schools  in  France  under  the  Reform  before  sepa- 
rate ones  came  into  vogue.  The  Reform  undoubtedly  pro- 
voked the  intellectual  emancipation  of  sixteenth  century 
womanhood.  In  the  recent  past  there  had  been  special 
trades  for  women,  operating  under  royal  charters,  such  as 
the  making  of  ribbons,  hats,  embroideries.  Widows  were 
allowed  to  keep  their  husbands'  workshops  as  long  as  they 
should  remain  widows.  In  the  mixed  trades  women  had 
less  rights.  Comparative  salaries,  says  Hauser,  in  "Works 
of  Women,"  were  probably  three-fourths  of  a  man's  pay  in 
the  fourteenth  century,  and  about  one-half  in  the  sixteenth. 
In  addition  to  the  gates  of  industry,  the  portals  of  Protest- 
ant education  were  now  thrown  open  to  the  women  of 
France.  There  was  need  of  this  for  in  the  middle  of  the 
sixteenth  century  the  Jews  of  France  were  more  enlightened 
than  the  Christians. 

Spontaneity,  free  thought,  and  free  inquiry  constituted 
the  basis  of  Protestantism.  By  its  success  in  developing 
these  qualities,  the  new  religion  imposed  still  greater  efforts 
upon  the  Roman  church.  As  is  natural  for  innovators,  the 
thought  of  the  teachers  of  the  century  was  marked  by  en- 

^^  Felice,  Vie  interieure,  p.  54. 


4853  THE    ORGANIZATION    OF   THE    CALVINISTS  77 

thusiasm  rather  than  by  precision.^-  They  were  more 
zealous  in  pointing  out  the  end  to  be  attained  than  exact  in 
determining  the  means  to  be  employed. 

No  account  of  the  ecclesiastical  and  educational  organiza- 
tion of  the  Reform  would  be  complete  without  mention  of 
the  Protestant  press.  Printing  had  been  introduced  into 
France  between  1483  and  1500,  and  Protestantism  in  many 
instances  started  with  pamphlet  reading.^^  Calvin  organ- 
ized the  societies  of  colportage  of  Protestant  books,  and  in 
Montpellier  where  the  Reform  dated  from  1554,  the  first 
martyr  was  a  colporteur.^*  The  "paper  war"  found  the 
Protestants  distinguished  by  the  fertility  and  prolixity  of  the 
press,  for  the  use  of  which  the  declarations,  confessions  of 
faith,  forms  of  prayer,  protests,  and  the  letters  of  Conde 
were  principally  edited  by  Beza,  at  the  great  literary  center 
of  Orleans. ^^  In  1562  Beza  finished  Marot's  psalter  and 
during  the  same  year  twenty-six  different  editions  of  the 
Psalms  were  published  by  the  Calvinists.  Of  these  Geneva 
printed  nine,  Paris  seven,  and  St.  L6  one,  besides  five  others 
without  a  name.  Fourteen  editions  were  released  in  1563, 
with  ten  more  in  the  following  year.^®  Lyons,  at  the  gate- 
way to  Switzerland,  was  the  capital  of  printing,  and  nearly 
all  its  printers,  especially  the  Germans,  were  favorable  to  the 
Reform.  Discontented  with  the  social  state,  they  offered 
a  marvelous  field  for  Protestantism.  The  Protestant  press 
threw  into  circulation  thousands  of  Greek,  Latin,  Italian, 
Spanish,  Belgian,  German,  Gascon,  Basque,  and  Perigordian 
works.^'^  Restrictive  measures  immediately  appeared. 
Letters  of  the  king  to  Parlement  of  August  16,  1561,  for- 
bade the  printing  of  any  work  without  the  permission  of 
the  King  and  Parlement.     A  letter  of  the  Catholic  envoy 

32  Compayre,  p.  84. 

*'  Buef,  Charles,  L'amiral  de  Coligny.     Paris,  1884,  p.  37. 

2*  Corbiere,  Histoire  de  I'liglise  reformee  de  Montpellier.  Mont- 
pellier, 1861,  p.  10. 

25  Aumale,  Conde,  p.  107. 

3«  Baird,  H.  M.,  Theodore  Beza.  New  York  and  London,  1899, 
p.  281. 

"  Chasles,  P.,  Etudes  sur  le  i6e  siecle,  Paris,  1848,  p.  219. 


78  FRENCH  protestantism:  1559-1562  [486 

St.  Croix,  of  March  26,  1562,  depicts  the  capture  by  a  lieu- 
tenant of  the  king  of  a  barque  load  of  books  from  Geneva 
concealed  in  wine  casks.^^  It  was  futile,  however,  to  at- 
tempt to  check  the  infractions  of  the  embargo  by  the  con- 
stituencies of  2150  Protestant  churches. 

The  political  organization  of  the  Protestants  was  effected 
through  the  medium  of  an  association,  a  form  of  organiza- 
tion of  which  there  are  many  examples,  both  Catholic  and 
Protestant,  during  this  troubled  period.  The  nucleus  of  the 
Catholic  leagues,  after  which  the  Protestant  organizations 
were  partly  patterned,  seems  to  have  been  the  local  guilds. 
These  were  closely  connected  with  the  body  of  tradesmen, 
each  trade  having  its  patron  saint  and  banner,  as  well  as 
fixed  places  and  days  of  meeting.''''  The  south  of  France 
was  far  more  aggressive  than  the  north,  and,  to  the  dis- 
quietude of  the  government,  many  anti-Protestant  associa- 
tions were  formed  in  more  than  one-half  of  the  provinces. 
The  earliest  seems  to  have  been  that  of  Bordeaux,  in  1560: 
this  was  the  germ  of  the  Roman  Catholic  league  which 
later  expanded  over  Bordelais  and  Gascony.  The  Parisians 
manifested  their  prejudice  in  an  organized  military  form 
as  early  as  1562.  On  May  2  of  that  year  the  Parlement  of 
Paris  passed  an  ordinance  directing  the  echevins  and  all 
loyal  Catholics  in  each  quarter  of  the  city  to  organize  under 
arms.*"  Leagues  were  formed  at  Aix  in  Provence  in  No- 
vember, 1562,  and  at  Agen-on-Garonne  in  Gascony  on 
February  4,  1563.*^  Cardinals  Armagnac  and  Strozzi  were 
sponsors  of  the  famous  Catholic  League  of  Toulouse, 
launched  on  the  third  of  March,  1563,^"  which  D'Aubigne 
called  the  prototype  of  all  the  leagues  afterward  formed  in 
France.^''     Ten  days  later  the  League  of  Cadillac  in  Guyenne 


38  Conde,  vol.  ii,  p.  435. 

39  For  history^  and  descriptions  see,  among  others,  St.  Leon,  267 ; 
Ouin-Lacroix,  L'Histoire  des  anciennes  corporations  d'arts  et  metiers 
de  Rouen.    8  vols.,  Rouen,  1850;  vol.  i,  p.  520. 

^0  Popeliniere,  vol.  viii,  p.  499. 

41  Monluc,  Blaise  de,  Commentaires  et  lettres,  1521-76.  A.  de 
Ruble.     5  vols.,  Paris,  1864-72;  vol.  iv,  p.  190. 

42  Devic  et  Vaissete,  vol.  v,  p.  249. 

*3  D'Aubigne,  H.  M.,  Histoire  de  la  Reformation  du  i6e  siecle. 
5  vols.,  Paris,  1877-8;  vol.  ii,  p.  137. 


487]      THE  ORGANIZATION  OF  THE  CALVINISTS        79 

came  into  existence  as  a  result  of  the  efforts  of  Candalle, 
Montluc's  lieutenant  in  the  Bordeaux  region."** 

In  its  sixth  article  the  Edict  of  Pacification  on  March 
I9>  1563,  forbade  the  formation  of  any  new  leagues  and 
ordered  the  dissolution  of  those  already  existing.*^  The 
provision  was  a  dead  letter.  After  the  first  war  many 
leagues,  particularly  those  of  Toulouse,  Provence,  and 
Agen  were  well  organized.  On  March  31,  six  days  before 
the  edict  was  promulgated,  Catherine  sharply  rebuked  the 
red-handed  Montluc  for  the  inception  of  new  organizations 
in  Guyenne.*''  This  blood-thirsty  captain  had  been  nick- 
named "Brule-Banc"  because  of  the  devastation  wreaked 
upon  Protestant  communities  by  fire  and  sword.  In  April, 
1563,  a  weak  Catholic  association  sprang  up  in  the  Rouen- 
nais  and  lower  Ile-de-France,  while  leagues  were  started  in 
some  of  the  Angevin  and  Maine  towns.*^  What  made  the 
league  of  Agen,  in  Guyenne,  so  peculiarly  formidable  was 
the  fact  that  it  was  organized  and  continued  without  the 
knowledge  or  consent  of  the  crown.  After  August,  1564, 
it  was  called  the  league  of  Guyenne.  North  of  the  Loire 
there  were  to  be  no  considerable  associations  of  Catholics 
until  1568. 

One  of  the  very  earliest  forms  of  Protestant  organiza- 
tion can  be  traced  to  Lower  Guyenne,  which  was  constituted 
an  ecclesiastical  province  under  the  dispensations  of  i559 
and  1563.  Especially  at  Nerac  Montluc  early  experienced 
a  strong  combination  of  the  Huguenots.  In  Guyenne  the 
intensity  of  the  democratic,  revolutionary  character  of 
Protestantism  was  partly  due  to  the  memory  of  the  revolt 
of  1548  and  its  merciless  supression.*^  In  1559  the  Catholic 
jurisconsult  des  Autels  said  that  the  "rebels"  were  organ- 
ized into  three  divisions :  those  who  covered  themselves  with 
the  mantle  of  rehgion;  those  who  desired  to  be  reformers 

**  Commentaire  de  Montluc,  vol.  iv,  p.  214. 
*•''  Isambert,  vol.  xiv,  p.  145. 

46  Great  Britain,  Cal.  St.  P.  For.,  No.  1000. 

47  Mourin.  La  reforme  et  la  ligiie  en  Anjou.    Angers,  1856,  p.  21. 

48  Revue  historique,  XCVII  (1908),  p.  341,  note  6. 


8o  FRENCH  protestantism:  1559-1562  [488 

of  the  police;  those  who  preached  the  benefits  of  liberty.'*® 
In  the  south  of  France  there  were  other  organized  Hugue- 
not agitations  by  June,  1561.  At  Montpellier,  in  Langue- 
doc  the  Protestant  movement  in  September  had  taken  the 
form  of  a  definite  league,  with  the  sweeping  motto :  "  No 
mass,  no  more  than  at  Geneva.''^"  The  operations  of  this 
league  were  so  thorough  that  many  Catholics  were  about  to 
emigrate  to  Spanish  Catalonia. 

The  association  formed  at  Orleans  on  the  eleventh  of 
April,  1652,  presents  characteristics  typical  of  contempor- 
aneous Protestant  organizations.  The  preamble  of  its  in- 
strument of  government  disclaimed  any  private  motives  on 
the  part  of  those  who  were  parties  to  the  association,  and 
asserted  that  the  sole  purpose  was  to  liberate  the  King  from 
"  captivity "  and  punish  the  insolence  and  tyranny  of  the 
disloyal  and  of  the  enemies  of  the  church.  Idolatry,  vio- 
lence, blasphemy,  and  robbery  were  forbidden  within  the 
territory  of  the  association,  in  order  that  all  might  know 
that  it  had  the  "  fear  of  God  before  it."  The  association 
was  to  expire  at  the  king's  majority. ^^  Its  rules  were  as 
much  a  body  of  military  regulations  for  the  discipline  of  the 
army  as  they  were  a  political  pact.  There  was,  however, 
little  of  the  politico-military  character  of  the  Roman  Catho- 
lic leagues  about  it.  In  fact,  with  the  exception  of  the 
Huguenot  association  in  Dauphiny,  there  is  no  early  ex- 
ample exactly  similar  to  the  leagues  in  the  Catholic  prov- 
inces. After  the  treaty  of  Amboise,  March  19,  1563,  the 
Protestant  association  of  Languedoc  maintained  its  organi- 
zation, raised  money,  and  levied  troops.^^  When  the  govern- 
ment required  the  razing  of  the  walls  of  Huguenot  strong- 
holds, like  St.  L6,  Orleans,  and  Montauban,  the  Protestant 
leagues  resisted.  In  spite  of  this,  not  until  after  the  Bayonne 
episode  of  1565  do  we  find  a  solid  federation  of  Reformed 

49  Weill,  George,  Les  theories  sur  le  pouvoir  royal  en  France  pen- 
dant les  guerres  de  religion.     Paris,  1891,  p.  36. 

^"Archives  Nationales.  K.  1495,  No.  47,  June  19,  1561. 
31  Great  Britain,  Gal.  St.  P.  For.,  No.  1003. 
»2  Ibid.,  No.  896. 


489 J  THE    ORGANIZATION    OF   THE    CALVINISTS  8 1 

churches:  the  first  crucial  test  of  Protestant  organization 
was  made  at  the  beginning  of  the  Second  Civil  War.  The 
consensus  of  opinion  of  authorities  is  that  not  until  after 
1572  did  the  Protestant  organization  reach  a  high  point  of 
military  and  political  development. 

Correro,  the  Venetian  ambassador  at  the  court  of  Henry 
III,  wrote  in  1569  that  there  were  three  classes  of  Protest- 
ants :  the  great,  the  bourgeois,  and  the  gens  du  peuple.  The 
first  division,  he  claimed,  were  Protestants  in  order  to  sup- 
plant their  enemies ;  the  second,  to  enrich  themselves ;  the 
last,  because  they  had  been  led  by  false  opinions.^^  It  was 
characteristic  of  the  Latin  Catholics  to  attribute  the  Hugue- 
nots' change  of  heart  to  mercenary  motives.  Modern  his- 
torians are  almost  unanimous  in  recording  that  the  political 
Huguenots  took  arms  against  the  authority  of  monarchs  and 
pseudo-regents,  and  that  the  religious  Huguenots  rose 
against  the  authority  of  the  mediaeval  church.  One  stu- 
dent of  the  period  classes  the  political  Huguenots  into  sepa- 
rate groups:  (i)  monarchists,  associated  with  Elizabeth  of 
England,  who  desired  to  make  Louis  of  Conde  king  of 
France;  (2)  the  democratic  faction,  which  aspired  to  a  re- 
public, the  ultimate  ideal  of  Calvin.^*  After  a  thorough 
study  of  the  sources  concerning  the  political  organization  of 
the  Protestants  it  is  the  opinion  of  the  writer  that  the  Hugue- 
not state  cannot  be  thus  divided,  but  was  a  mixture  of  the 
popular  and  the  aristocratic  elements.  It  was  a  republic 
within  the  monarchy. 

The  aristocratic  element  in  the  Huguenot  party  triumphed 
over  the  "  Geneva  party  "  of  stern  Protestants  as  a  sequel 
to  the  treaty  of  Amboise,  March  19,  1563.^^  By  the  terms 
of  the  latter,  Conde  was  to  succeed  to  the  position  of  the 
late  King  of  Navarre ;  the  new  religion  was  to  be  protected 
in  all  towns,  except  Paris ;  the  Huguenot  army  should 
be  paid  by  the  central  government;  in  every  bailiwick  the 

53  Relations  .  .  .  venetiens,  vol.  ii,  p.  113. 

5*  Sichel,  Catherine  de  Medicis  and  the  French  Reformation,  p.  105, 
55  Capefigue,  Catherine  de  Medicis,  p.  260. 
6 


82  FRENCH    protestantism:    I559-I562  [49O 

king  was  to  appoint  one  town  where  the  gospel  might  be 
preached ;  all  gentlemen  holding  fiefs  in  mean  justice  might 
have  preaching  in  their  homes;  all  nobles  enjoying  high 
justice  should  be  permitted  to  have  preaching  on  their 
estates;  property  confiscated  from  either  church  was  to  be 
restored.^^ 

The  military  system  of  the  Protestant  organizations  de- 
serves particular  consideration,  for  the  Huguenots  developed 
institutions  which  produced  soldiers  of  another  temper  from 
those  of  the  royalist  armies.  These  associations  gathered 
rapidly  and  from  1562  formed  a  general  and  permanent 
organization.  The  militia  was  constituted  like  a  church, 
though  one  might  think  it  was  more  of  an  army  than  a  con- 
gregation.^^ The  tactical  unit  of  infantry  in  the  sixteenth 
century  was  the  "bande"  or  "  enseigne."  In  1560  such  a 
company  contained  two  hundred  or  less,  but  within  a  few 
years  this  number  was  reduced  to  seventy  or  eighty.  The 
strength  of  the  Catholic  company  was  maintained  at  the 
larger  figure,  including  two  sergeants,  six  corporals,  two 
drummers,  one  fife,  and  one  quartermaster.^^  Each  local 
Protestant  church  furnished  an  "enseigne,"  or  infantry 
company.  Sometimes  the  consistories  of  a  district  united  to 
form  a  company.  Some  towns,  like  Castres,  near  Bordeaux, 
contributed  three;  others,  as  Rochelle,  a  dozen.  Symmetry 
was  sacrificed  to  conditions. 

Companies  of  the  same  colloquy  were  grouped  into  a 
regional  regiment,  although  united  only  administratively. 
All  the  colloquies  of  the  same  province  combined  to  form 
an  army  corps,  having  at  its  head  a  permanent  staff.  All 
army  corps  were  united  under  central  authority,  so  that 
nearly  all  the  elements  of  present  day  military  institutions 
were  then  present.  This  territorial  organization  did  .not 
include  cavalry,  artillery,  and  foreign  auxiliaries.  Of  the 
infantry  Coligny  said  that  the  Protestants  could  put  200,ocx) 

56  Isambert,  vol.  xiv,  p.  135.    Thompson,  p.  191. 

5^  Lettenhove,  p.  31. 

58  Archives  Nationales,  K.  1496,  No.  112. 


49l]  THE   ORGANIZATION    OF   THE    CALVINISTS  83 

in  the  field.  His  opponent  Montluc  exclaimed,  with  an 
oath :  "  What  churches  are  these  which  turn  out  captains  ?"^^ 

The  Turkish  envoy  who  was  an  eyewitness  of  the  battle 
of  Dreux  declared  in  his  admiration :  "  If  my  master  had 
6000  horsemen  like  those  whitecoats  (Huguenots)  he  would 
be  master  of  the  world ! "'''°  In  this  particular  battle  the 
Protestants  did  have  excellent  cavalry.  Often  the  "grand 
army,"  which  in  full  force  was  25,000,  either  lacked  light 
horse  and  dragoons,  or  was  supported  by  horsemen  badly 
mounted  and  equipped,  without  cohesion.  Often  the  cavalry 
was  divided  into  cornets  of  one  hundred,  attached  to  no 
regiments  whatsoever.  The  Huguenot  cavalry  company  in- 
cluded one  trumpeter,  one  sergeant-major,  and  two  quarter- 
masters. The  light  pistoleers  could  do  little  against  the 
heavy  reiters,  partly  due  to  the  fact  that  the  Protestant 
organization  lacked  the  cuirasse,  or  breast-plate.  In  con- 
trast to  this  branch  of  the  Huguenot  service,  the  strength 
of  the  Catholic  army  lay  in  the  cavalry,  a  condition  attribut- 
able to  several  causes.  On  the  one  hand  the  German  and 
Swiss  mercenaries  had  been  for  centuries  available  as  in- 
fantry, and  on  the  other  the  French  feudal  nobility  had 
hated  to  see  arms  in  the  hands  of  common  people  and 
peasants. 

At  the  outbreak  of  hostilities  most  of  the  artillery  was 
in  Catholic  hands.  Those  cities  in  which  the  Protestants 
predominated  quickly  built  walls  at  their  own  expense,  but 
only  a  few  of  the  churches  possessed  arsenals  or  cannon 
foundries.  As  soon  as  a  central  arsenal  was  established, 
however,  cannons,  falconets,  and  culverins  were  soon  stiffen- 
ing the  Huguenot  lines.  The  falconets  were  especially  effec- 
tive notwithstanding  that  the  diameter  of  the  bore  was  only 
four  and  one  quarter  inches.  As  a  whole  the  ordnance  was 
very  diverse  in  form,  length,  and  calibre,  but  had  the  same 
sized  gun  carriage,  "  monuments  of  proved  solidity  and 
fantastic  weight."     Spanish  and  Breton  ships  with  cargoes 

59  Commentaires  de  Blaise  de  Montluc,  vol.  i,  p.  228. 
^°  Blackburn,  Admiral  Coligny  and  the  Rise  of  the  Huguenots,  vol. 
ii,  p.  dT. 


§4  FRENCH  protestantism:  1559-1562  [492 

of  metals  were  often  intercepted  by  the  Huguenot  cruisers, 
in  order  that  the  Protestant  foundries  might  not  lack  ma- 
terial for  ordnance.  One  Catholic  envoy  avers  that  on  May 
14,  1562,  the  Protestants  tore  off  the  roof  of  the  Rouen 
Cathedral  to  obtain  lead  for  bullets.*'^  References  to  the 
artillery  in  action  are  scant,  yet  by  a  clever  manouver  on  the 
twenty-first  of  April,  1562,  nine  days  after  the  prince  of 
Conde  formally  assumed  command  of  the  Huguenot  forces, 
cannons  were  brought  upstream  to  Orleans  from  Tours,  at 
the  juncture  of  the  Loire  and  the  Cher.®- 

There  were  always  two  sections  in  the  Huguenot  camps, 
the  "  bataille"  and  the  "  avant-garde."  The  advance  guard 
consisted  of  arquebusiers  while  the  main  body  and  rear- 
guard was  hedged  with  pikes.  Not  serried  ranks  but  liberty 
of  movement  was  the  order.  At  the  sound  of  the  bugle 
mobilization  took  place  with  great  celerity.  At  the  outset 
Coligny  was  handicapped  in  forming  an  army  because  there 
was  no  "  cadre "  or  framework  with  which  to  start,  the 
majority  of  the  permanent  forces  being  in  Catholic  hands. 
Yet  by  the  period  of  Dreux  he  could  assemble  in  four  weeks 
8000  horse  and  25,000  infantry,  a  feat  the  king  could  not 
perform  in  less  than  four  months. ^^  Even  in  the  most  anti- 
Protestant  city  of  France  mobilization  of  Huguenots  oc- 
curred upon  such  a  scale  that  at  the  citizens'  request  there 
was  enacted  on  May  2,  1562,  an  ordinance  of  the  King 
taking  away  the  arms  of  all  in  Paris  who  belonged  to  the 
Reform.*'^  By  the  first  of  June  there  were  24,000  infantry 
in  the  capital  to  fight  for  the  Queen. '^■'''  Most  of  the  Hugue- 
not regiments  were  temporary  and  were  paid  off  at  the  end 
of  a  campaign,  although  there  existed  always  an  "old 
guard." 

One  reason  for  Huguenot  mercantile  superiority  lay  in  the 
fact  that  although  the  artisans  of  both  religions  left  their 

"1  St.  Croix,  p.  167. 

"2  Whitehead,  Gaspard  de  Coligny,  p.  loi. 

"3  Lettenhove,  p.  31. 

"*  Conde,  vol.  iii,  p.  419. 

•^5  St.  Croix,  p.  171. 


493]  THE   ORGANIZATION    OF   THE    CALVINISTS  85 

trades  at  the  outbreak  of  hostilities,  the  number  who  re- 
sumed their  normal  vocation  was  overwhelmingly  Protest- 
ant. As  early  as  September  7,  1560,  Conde  had  observed 
that  "  foreign  soldiers  return  to  their  trades  after  each  war, 
but  not  so  with  the  French  (royalists).'"'*' 

The  field  discipline  of  the  Huguenots  was  severe.  The 
chief  innovation  was  public  prayer,  led  by  one  of  the  officer- 
chaplains.  No  dice,  cards,  women,  or  blasphemy  were  to 
be  found  in  the  train  of  the  armies  of  Conde  and  Coligny. 
Theft  and  debauchery  were  severely  punished.  There  was 
a  corresponding  and  probably  resultant  advance  in  the 
ethics  of  warfare  of  the  opposing  armies.  On  the  nine- 
teenth of  August,  1562,  appeared  a  royal  edict,  recorded  in 
the  Archives  Nationales,  on  the  conduct  of  the  army.*'^ 
"  No  soldiers,  foot  or  cavalry,  shall  supply  themselves  with 
any  arms  or  horses  not  belonging  to  them,  on  pain  of  death. 
Those  found  pillaging  or  robbing  under  whatever  pretext, 
shall  be  punished  by  the  arms  they  carry,  or  as  the  council 
shall  dictate.  The  said  soldiers  shall  pay  their  hosts  for 
their  entertaiment  according  to  a  scale  given  out  by  the 
commissary.  They  are  forbidden  to  start  quarrels  and 
monopolies  on  penalty  of  death.  The  soldiers  shall  not 
abandon  their  ensign  without  permission  of  said  court  and 
of  their  captains." 

The  Protestant  soldiers  dressed  as  they  pleased.  It  was 
customary,  but  not  compulsory,  to  wear  the  chief's  livery. 
Probably  because  it  was  the  color  of  Conde,  the  soldiers 
wore  white  cassocks.  After  Vassy  all  Huguenot  cavalry 
did  likewise,  while  their  horses  were  caparisoned  in  white. 
The  officers  of  the  mounted  service  dressed  in  white  velvet ; 
on  their  iron  corselet  was  the  heraldic  scarf  of  white,  and 
on  the  helmet  the  legendary  white  plume.  The  standard 
bearer  always  carried  a  flag  of  white.  Red  was  Navarre's 
color,  while  the  Huguenots  of  the  duke  of  Deux-Ponts 
(Zweibrlicken)  wore  yellow  and  black.*'^     Because  the  gay 


66  Conde,  Sept.  7,  1560. 

67  Archives  Nationales,  K.  1496,  No.  112. 
^^  Lehr,  p.  10. 


86  FRENCH  protestantism:  1559-1562  [494 

colors  of  feudal  days  had  not  yet  been  supplanted  by  the 
neutral  tints  of  modern  warfare,  the  comparative  casual- 
ties were  much  higher  in  1560. 

The  Protestant  military  leaders  were  usually  men  of 
letters  and  high  culture,  brave,  but  thinkers  as  well.  Lanoue 
regrets  the  diminution  of  nobles  in  the  officers'  corps  in  the 
later  civil  wars.  Cadets  of  foremost  houses  of  France  were 
among  the  rank  and  file,  but  the  captains  and  lieutenants 
were  often  soldiers  of  fortune.  Monluc  was  the  only  one 
who  ever  spoke  of  the  Huguenot  leaders  and  soldiers  as 
mediocre.  His  opinion  was  based  upon  one  incident  only.''^ 
Aside  from  their  greatest  chiefs  the  Protestants  had  the 
counsel  of  old  veterans  of  the  Italian  wars. 

The  meagre  accounts  of  the  Huguenot  military  budget 
state  that  the  army  (or  church)  was  divided  into  twenty- 
four  groups,  with  six  chiefs  each,  paying  each  year  a  tribute 
of  800,000  francs,  of  which  100,000  went  to  the  Queen  of 
Navarre,  and  40,000  to  Coligny.^"  Although  there  is  no 
direct  evidence  as  to  the  Huguenot  scale  of  wages,  an  idea 
of  their  salaries  may  be  obtained  by  examining  the  royalist 
pay  roll.  By  the  month  captains  of  cavalry  received  one 
hundred  livres  tournois,  cavalry  sergeant-majors  and 
cornets,  fifty ;  each  horseman  and  quartermaster,  sixteen ; 
trumpeters,  twelve.  Captains  of  infantry  were  paid  one 
hundren  livres;  lieutenants,  fifty;  ensigns,  thirty;  sergeants, 
twenty;  corporals,  eighteen;  drummers,  fifers  and  quarter- 
masters, twelve  each.  The  cuirassiers  received  ten  livres 
per  month.  Visored  arquebusiers  were  paid  ten,  unvisored, 
eight.  Unarmored  pikemen  obtained  a  pittance  of  one 
livre.'^^  Eight  thousand  Gascons,  the  best  foot  soldiers  of 
the  royalist  army,  received  without  qualification  four  hun- 
dred livres  apiece  each  year.  The  Protestant  reiters  were 
paid  fifteen  fiorins  monthly,  while  the  stipends  of  colonel, 
lieutenant,  and  ensign  were  respectively  250,  95  and  75 
florins.     The  British  Record  Office  estimated  the  wages  and 

^^  Monluc,  p.  364. 

""^  Lettenhove,  p.  31. 

■^1  Archives  Nationales,  K.  1496,  No.  112. 


4953  "^^^   ORGANIZATION    OF   THE    CALVINISTS  87 

appointments  of  4000  reiters  and  officers  each  month  at 
122,048  Hvres  tournois  or  81,532  florins.  To  each  four 
reiters  was  assigned  at  thirty  florins  monthly,  a  carriage 
with  four  horses.  The  total  expense  of  the  4000  reiters  for 
four  months,  including  the  levy,  amounted  to  569,792  livres 
or  379,861  florins.  Lansquenets,  or  German  foot  soldiers, 
were  levied  at  an  outlay  of  a  crown  per  month.  An  ensign 
of  three  hundred  men  cost  the  Huguenots  each  month  3500 
livres.  The  fund  necessary  to  satisfy  this  entire  foreign 
branch  of  the  service  was  the  quivalent  of  395,000  livres  or 
263,337  florins  every  four  months.  At  one  period  the 
French  army  relinquished  80,000  francs  in  order  that  their 
allies,  the  German  reiters,  might  receive  their  wages.''^  The 
dilatory  tactics  of  the  English  queen  were  responsible  for 
this  shortage.  Nor  was  the  Catholic  army  immune  from 
financial  embarrassment.  On  the  twelfth  of  December, 
1562,  President  Leguier  informed  the  Parlement  of  Paris 
that  Francis  of  Guise  had  told  him  there  were  owing  the 
soldiers  fifteen  months'  wages.'^^  One  week  later  occurred 
the  crucial  battle  of  Dreux. 

One  final  word  concerns  the  military  organization  of  the 
towns  captured  by  the  Protestants.  These  places  were 
linked  together  so  as  to  form  a  chain  between  Orleans,  the 
"  Protestant  Rome,"  and  the  provinces  where  the  Huguenots 
were  strongest,  notably  Gascony,  Dauphiny,  and  Languedoc. 

72  Blackburn,  vol.  ii,  p.  67. 

73  Conde,  Dec.  12,  1562. 


CHAPTER   IV 

The  Reform  at  Its  Height 

The  progress  of  the  pacific  Reform  may  best  be  traced 
through  the  series  of  royal  edicts  issued  during  the  five  years 
preceding  the  first  war  of  religion.  The  edict  of  Paris 
(1549),  of  Fontainebleau  (1550),  and  of  Chateaubriand 
(1551)  made  the  Protestants  subject  to  both  ecclesiastical 
and  secular  tribunals.^  The  Edict  of  Compiegne  of  July 
24,  1557,  sentenced  to  death  any  one  who  publicly  or  secretly 
professed  other  than  the  Catholic  religion.  The  whole  reign 
of  Henry  II  saw  war  without  and  persecution  of  the  Protest- 
ants within.  Diane  de  Poitiers,  Lorraine,  St.  Andre,  and 
Constable  Montmorency,  the  four  favorites  of  this  king, 
who  was  "  of  soft  spirit,  little  judgment  and  easily  led  '  par 
le  nez,' "  continually  persuaded  him  that  religion  was  the 
enemy  of  all  monarchy.  Tavanes  declared  that  it  tended 
to  democracy.^  The  Cardinal  Lorraine  possessed  the  king's 
conscience,  while  Diane  was  a  sorceress  who  hated  the 
Protestants.  "  Not  a  drop  of  justice  fell  on  France  during 
her  twelve  years  (i 547-1 559)  except  by  stealth,"  said  the 
Huguenots.^  This  favorite  also  convinced  the  monarch  that 
the  means  of  covering  all  vices  was  the  extermination  of 
Rome's  enemies,  and  thereupon  began  the  activities  of  the 
Chambre  Ardente,  before  the  creation  of  which  heresy  had 
been  dealt  with  by  the  regular  courts.  In  June,  1559,  the 
month  before  the  death  of  Henry  II,  the  edict  of  Ecouan 
provided  for  the  execution  of  all  heretics,  without  the  least 
reprieve  or  mitigation.* 

Henry  was  mortally  wounded  in  the  tournament  given  in 

1  Thompson,  p.  10. 
-  Tavannes,  vol.  ii,  p.  iii. 
3  Blackburn,  vol.  i,  p.  35. 
*  Castelnau,  Bk.  i,  chap.  iii. 


497^  THE   REFORM    AT   ITS    HEIGHT  89 

the  double  celebration  of  the  nuptials  of  his  daughter  Eliza- 
beth and  Philip  II  of  Spain,  and  of  Henry's  sister  Mar- 
guerite and  the  duke  of  Savoy.  As  the  point  of  Mont- 
gomery's splintered  lance  penetrated  the  right  eye  of  the 
King,  the  spectators  recalled  the  previous  omens  of  Henry's 
death.  Marshall  Vieilleville  had  had  sombre  presentiments. 
De  Thou  quotes  an  astrologer.  Carloix  records  that  Henry, 
as  he  fell,  said  that  he  "had  unjustly  afflicted  those  people 
over  there,"  meaning  prominent  Huguenots  who  had  been 
executed.^  Others  noted  in  his  death  chamber  the  presence 
of  a  suggestive  and  accusing  tapestry  of  Saul  on  the  Damas- 
cus road.  The  Huguenots  considered  Henry's  death  as  a 
judgment  of  God.''  Moreover,  persons  of  the  communion 
of  Rome  also  viewed  the  fatal  accident  as  a  retribution, 
although  upon  different  grounds.  Henry  was  accused  by 
the  Catholic  writer  Pasquier  of  being  proclaimed  "  pro- 
tecteur  de  la  liberte  germanique  " ;  that  is,  heresy,  the  "  pro- 
found cause  of  the  civil  war." 

Four  months  after  the  accession  of  the  young  King 
Francis,  a  new  edict  of  November,  1559,  ordained  that  all 
those  who  attended  conventicles  or  participated  in  any 
secret  assemblies,  should  be  put  to  death  and  their  homes 
razed,  never  to  be  rebuilt.  Letters-patent  to  this  effect  were 
handed  to  the  head  of  the  Chatelet  prison  and  judges  were 
appointed  by  Charles  of  Lorraine  to  decide  without  appeal. 
The  priests  even  resorted  to  erecting  images  of  the  Virgin 
at  intersections  of  thoroughfares  in  order  that  "unbe- 
lievers "  might  be  apprehended. 

On  March  27,  1560,  the  celebrated  Michel  de  I'Hopital 
was  appointed  to  the  chancellorship  to  succeed  Olivier,  who 
until  the  day  of  his  death  had  been  a  tool  of  the  Guises. 
The  accession  of  this  great  statesman  paved  the  way  for  the 
edict  of  Romorantin,  in  May,  1560.  According  to  this  in- 
strument the  legal  processes  dealing  with  religion  were  trans- 
ferred from  the  courts  of  parlement  and  lay  tribunals  to 

5  D'Aubigne,  Histoire  de  la  Reformation,  vol.  i,  p.  2Z1. 

6  Great  Britain,  Cal.  St.  P.  For.,  No.  899,  June  30,  1559- 


90  FRENCH  protestantism:  1559-1562  [498 

ecclesiastical  judges.  This  legislation  meant  that  accused 
persons  need  no  longer  fear  the  death  penalty,  for  sen- 
tences might  be  delayed  through  appeals  from  the  acts  of 
bishops  to  archbishops  and  even  to  Rome.  In  consequence 
many  of  those  who  had  fled  from  France  returned,  among 
them  pastors  from  Switzerland  and  England,  and  many  of 
the  1400  families  who  had  sought  refuge  in  Geneva  during 
the  reign  of  Henry  11.'^  This  number  was  appreciably  aug- 
mented one  month  after  the  death  of  the  second  Francis 
when  there  appeared  under  the  seal  of  the  new  king,  Charles 
IX,  January  7,  1561,  a  liberal  Declaration  of  Toleration.^ 

A  tentative  Edict  of  July,  1561,  was  promulgated  when  it 
became  apparent  that  the  convening  of  the  Colloquy  of 
Poissy,  wherein  the  religious  issue  was  to  be  discussed  by 
both  sects,  was  being  postponed.  This  ordinance,  while 
seeming  to  pronounce  judgment,  really  evaded  the  question 
at  issue.^  Similar  to  the  edict  of  Romorantin  of  May,  1560, 
it  gave  the  established  church  full  jurisdiction  of  heresy, 
the  severest  punishment  for  which  was  to  be  banishment. 
False  accusers  were  to  be  punished  in  like  manner  as  the 
accused,  had  the  latter  really  been  guilty.  Under  this  edict 
Protestant  assemblies  flourished. 

The  most  decisive  decree  was  that  of  1562,  generally 
known  as  the  Edict  of  January.  This,  the  "  first  promulga- 
tion of  liberty  of  conscience,"  was  the  first  ordinance  that 
permitted  the  exercise  of  the  Protestant  religion  in  public.^'' 
It  was  L'Hopital's  last  stake:  if  it  failed,  civil  war.  The 
new  edict  accorded  to  the  Reform — (i)  the  right  to  hold 
public  reunions  for  worship;  (2)  to  raise  money  for  neces- 
sary expenses  and  for  the  poor  by  voluntary  offerings;  (3) 
to  maintain  their  consistorial  and  synodical  organization  and 
to  enjoy  the  regular  exercise  of  this  three-fold  right  under 
the  protection  of   superior  authority. ^^     Upon  these  three 

'  Levasseur,  Emile,  La  Population  franqaise,  vol.  i,  p.  igo. 
'  Opera  Calvini,  vol.  xviii,  p.  337.    Isambert,  vol.  xiv,  p.  31. 
*  Thompson,  p.  104. 

^0  Dargaud,  Histoire  de  la  liberte  religieuse.  4  vols.,  Paris,  1879; 
vol.  ii,  p.  89. 

^^  Delaborde,  Vie  de  Coligny,  p.  i. 


4993  "^^^    REFORM    AT   ITS    HEIGHT  g'l 

points  there  were  several  restrictions.  It  was  forbidden  to 
build  temples  in  the  towns  or  their  environs  (art.  i).  Any 
assembly  with  preaching  as  the  object  could  not  be  held  day 
or  night  in  the  towns  (art.  2).  Assemblies  outside  the 
walls  could  only  be  held  by  day  without  arms  (art.  3),  and 
if  noblemen  were  not  present  (art.  5),  only  under  the  watch 
of  royal  officers  (art.  6).  Ministers  were  to  swear  to  preach 
no  doctrine  contrary  to  the  pure  word  of  God  (art.  10) 
according  to  the  Nicean  agreement,  and  might  not  go  by 
force  from  village  to  village  without  the  consent  of  the  lords, 
curates,  and  vicars.  As  for  the  finances,  alms  and  chari- 
ties should  not  be  made  by  imposition,  but  voluntarily. 
Unless  a  royal  officer  were  present,  there  might  be  no  meet- 
ing of  any  consistorial  or  synodical  organization.  Article 
4  forbade  all  magistrates,  judges,  and  others  to  molest  the 
Reformed  assemblies,  but  at  the  same  time  all  pastors  were 
advised  not  to  use  invectives  in  their  sermons  (art.  2).  Ac- 
ceptance of  the  conditions  followed.  The  Parlement  of 
Rouen  was  the  first  to  register  the  edict,  on  January  27. 
Bordeaux  and  Toulouse  ratified  on  February  6;  Paris,  one 
month  later.  Dijon,  normally  with  the  Huguenot  tenden- 
cies, would  not  register,  owing  to  the  influence  of  Aumale 
and  Tavannes. 

From  the  edict  of  January  were  deduced  the  two  distinct 
grounds  upon  which  liberty  of  conscience  might  be  de- 
manded. One  view,  coincident  with  that  of  Locke,  held 
that  the  state  owes  to  all  creeds  which  do  not  infringe  public 
order  equal  protection,  because  no  creed  is  self-evident,  and 
therefore  no  right  to  be  enforced.  The  second  theory  was 
that  the  relation  between  men's  consciences  and  God  is 
exempt  by  its  very  nature  from  all  legislative  control.  Un- 
fortunately neither  of  these  principles  was  widely  recog- 
nized in  the  sixteenth  century.  Coligny  and  L'Hopital  ad- 
vanced the  view  that  the  French  Protestants  asked  toleration 
not  in  the  name  of  conscience  and  religious  liberty,  but  be- 
cause they  were  Christians  accepting  the  Nicean  and 
Apostles'  creeds.     One  writer  suggests  that  had  this  theory 


92  FRENCH  protestantism:  1559-1562  Lsoo 

been  accepted  two  different  religions  would  have  existed  in 
France — very  different   from  religious  liberty. ^- 

In  France,  situated  between  the  northern  Protestant  and 
the  southern  Catholic  countries,  the  population  was  so 
heterogeneous  in  character  and  origin,  that  it  would  seem 
as  if  that  should  be  the  nation  which  the  great  religious 
movement  of  the  sixteenth  century  would  divide  and  dis- 
tract above  all  others.  But  notwithstanding  the  presence  of 
both  tendencies  in  the  country  it  was  not  until  1559,  when 
the  Reformation  had  triumphed  in  Germany,  England,  Scot- 
land, Switzerland,  Denmark,  and  Sweden,  that  it  crystal- 
lized in  France.  Teutonic  independence,  under  the  form 
of  religious  Protestantism,  undid  the  Roman  Catholic  yoke, 
upset  Germany,  and  invaded  France.  Francis  I  and  Henry 
VIII,  in  a  corrupt  and  depraved  age,  were  first  responsible 
for  the  disputes  on  religion.  France,  where  the  new  doc- 
trine was  first  taught,  was  the  last  in  which  it  proved  the 
occasion  of  social  turmoil  and  political  division.  In  the 
twelfth  century  France  had  headed  the  crusades ;  in  the 
thirteenth,  the  most  brilliant  intellects  were  found  in  her 
universities ;  the  fourteenth  found  her  monarchs  triumphing 
over  the  Popes.  In  the  fifteenth  century  France  had  stood 
out  successfully  for  the  rights  of  the  church  at  large  against 
the  claims  of  Rome  at  Basle,  Pisa,  and  Constance.  In  the 
sixteenth,  however,  as  one  writer  points  out,  it  was  not  the 
French  who  discovered  the  telescope,  rounded  the  Cape  of 
Good  Hope,  or  gave  an  Erasmus  to  literature,  or  a  da  Vinci, 
Cardan,  or  Copernicus  to  science.^^ 

Why  did  France,  where  the  new  doctrine  was  first  taught, 
proceed  so  slowly  in  the  great  religious  movement?  Unlike 
some  other  nations,  France  found  no  political  or  ecclesi- 
astical assistance  with  which  to  help  her  advance.  Then, 
as  now,  the  French  church  was  not  groaning  under  the  same 
shackles  as  elsewhere.  The  French  spirit  of  independence 
allayed  any  fears  that  the  Vatican  might  attempt  to  divert 

12  Bersier,  p.  292. 

i^Hanna,  William,  The  Wars  of  the  Huguenots.  London,  1871, 
p.  I. 


50 1  ]  THE    REFORM    AT   ITS    HEIGHT  93 

Gallic  finances  into  Italian  channels.  The  state  and  church 
of  France  had  not  the  same  causes  for  quarrel  with  the 
Pope  as  some  other  nations.  In  France  there  was  less 
material  for  the  reformers  to  work  on.  Their  activity  was 
viewed  by  the  established  church  as  a  denial  and  demolition 
of  her  proud  authority.  The  royal  power  of  Francis  II 
and  Charles  IX  was  in  conflict  with  the  growing  municipal 
freedom  of  the  towns  which  it  desired  to  curb  and,  with  the 
feudal  independence  of  the  nobles,  which  it  wished  to  ob- 
literate. The  Reform,  a  product  of  liberty,  extended  aid 
to  both  these  enemies  of  royalty,  and  therefore  drew  down 
its  revenge. 

In  1500  the  Valois  had  been  absolute.  The  beliefs  of 
Luther  contained  nothing  dangerous  for  civil  government. 
The  adherents  of  Calvin  were  instructed  to  obey  God  and 
the  miagistrates.  Calvinism  itself  would  not  have  imperiled 
royalty.  The  sovereignty  of  the  people,  however,  was  the 
doctrinal  notion  of  the  Protestants,  while  the  history  of  the 
times  presented  a  series  of  weak  sovereigns  versus  virile 
reformers.  Yet  opinions  dififer  as  to  motives.  Lettenhove, 
a  Catholic,  maintained  that  the  Protestant  conspiracy  was 
essentially  feudal  at  the  outset.  He  thought  he  noted  a 
double  character:  "anti-national,"  rejected  by  the  people, 
and  "  criminal,"  sustained  by  foreigners.^*  Weill,  in  his 
theories  upon  the  royal  power,  insists  that  the  Catholics 
desired  to  rid  France  of  her  bad  kings  and  to  convene  the 
vStates-General,  but  with  those  objects  insisted  upon  the  re- 
spect due  the  church. ^-^  The  statement  is  indeed  open  to 
serious  question  that  in  reform  projects  the  Protestants 
tended  to  aristocracy  and  the  Catholics  to  democracy.  La 
Boetie  asked  why  millions  of  men  submitted  to  the  will  of 
one,  often  the  weakest  in  the  kingdom.  As  a  matter  of 
fact  the  union  of  church  and  state  in  France  was  so  firm 
that  it  was  thought  impossible  to  infringe  upon  one  without 
the  other.  Therefore  the  Valois  thought  to  defend  both  by 
fighting  the  Protestants. 

^*  Lettenhove,  p.  25. 
"Weill,  p.  I. 


94  FRENCH  protestantism:  1559-1562  [502 

Broadly  speaking,  the  Catholic  church,  royalty,  and  the 
universities  were  immediately  responsible  for  the  climax  of 
the  pacific  and  martial  Reform.  The  great  religious  move- 
ment of  the  sixteenth  century  had  for  its  object  the  emanci- 
pation of  human  conscience  from  ecclesiastical  authority. 
For  generations  there  had  persisted  the  need  for  a  reform 
of  the  ecclesiastical  discipline,  but  the  abuses,  in  spite  of 
Popes  and  councils,  obstinately  clung.  In  France  the  States- 
General  of  Orleans  demanded  the  urgent  reform  of  the 
clergy,  the  convocation  of  a  church  council,  the  suppression 
of  tribute  to  Rome,  the  gratuitous  administration  of  the 
sacraments,  and  the  foundation  of  schools  and  hospitals  with 
the  money  of  the  clergy.^®  Incompetence  in  spiritual  and 
temporal  government  was  characteristic  of  the  established 
church  of  the  century.  Rome  was  more  concerned  with  art 
and  politics.  In  the  essentials  of  science,  perfection  of 
man,  human  liberty,  the  dignity  of  the  family,  political 
economy  and  prosperity,  literature,  useful  knowledge,  and 
several  of  the  fine  arts,  Catholicism  was  helping  but  little. 

The  errors  of  royalty  by  commission  and  omission,  in  so 
far  as  they  affected  the  Reform,  have  been  considered  in 
the  first  chapter.  The  accession  of  a  boy  to  the  throne  in 
1559,  the  humiliating  treaty  of  Cateau-Cambresis,  and  the 
enormous  debts  left  by  Henry  II,  all  combined  to  favor  the 
propagation  of  new  thoughts.  A  third  cause  is  to  be  found 
in  the  universities.  Many  historians  claim^  that  the  Reform 
in  France  began  in  these  institutions.  It  is  true  that  the 
first  to  hail  the  new  doctrines  were  the  lettered  classes. 
Among  the  artisans  of  the  towns  and  villages,  however,  the 
new  faith  effected  the  greatest  and  purest  progress.  As  a 
matter  of  fact,  Protestant  universities  introduced  two  great 
ideas  of  political  and  rehgious  liberty,^^  yet  Morin  in  his 
"  Dictionnaire  de  Scholastique  "  charges  that  the  Huguenot 
retarded  the  march  of  human  progress  and  stopped  tlie  scien- 
tific revolution  inaugurated  by  those  Catholic  geniuses  Co- 

16  Barre-Duparcq,  Histoire  de  Charles  IX,  Paris,  1875,  p.  33. 

1'^  Stocquart,  E.,  Le  mariage  des  protestants.    Brussels,  1903,  p.  120. 


503]  THE   REFORM    AT   ITS    HEIGHT  95 

pernicus  and  Columbus  !^^  History  records  that  the  Reform 
caused  even  the  Roman  See  to  improve  in  science  and 
morals. 

Beza  called  Orleans  University  one  of  the  three  fountains 
of  the  Reform,  while  Ruble  referred  to  that  institution  as 
the  "  arsenal "  of  the  new  movement/^  and  well  they  might, 
for  Lutheranism  had  been  powerful  at  Orleans  as  early  as 
1528,  when  Olivetan,  a  comrade  of  Beza,  was  expelled  for 
heresy.  The  celebrated  Wolmar  was  one  of  the  Protestant 
professors.  The  university  was  widely  known  for  Roman 
law  while  Canon  law  had  gradually  become  a  field  for  study 
and  controversy  on  religious  matters.  The  Orleans  seat  of 
learning  was  in  full  splendor  in  the  sixteenth  century.  The 
questions  which  were  agitating  Europe  were  right  in  its 
midst.  Ten  "  nations  "  or  republics  were  formed  from  the 
various  student  nationalities,  including  hundreds  of  German, 
Swiss,  and  Flemish  students  who  introduced  the  germs  of 
Protestantism  and  deemed  it  an  honor  to  "  spread  them  in 
the  households  "  of  the  college  town.-"  There  are  several 
definite  instances  to  show  that  although  dormitories  existed 
many  students  overflowed  into  the  homes  of  the  townsmen, 
there  to  further  the  new  creed  of  their  native  lands.  Simi- 
larly, the  "  martinets  "  or  externes  of  the  University  of  Paris 
did  not  reside  in  any  college  or  pension,  but  in  the  homes  of 
the  citizens.^^ 

As  early  as  1531  the  new  religion  was  evoking  restrictive 
measures.  In  that  year  Francis  I  compelled  all  candidates 
for  the  doctorate  to  present  certificates  of  orthodoxy  before 
the  Parlement  of  Paris.  The  ten  "nations"  of  students, 
comprised  largely  of  groups  of  nationals  from  northern 
Protestant  countries,  were  reduced  to  four:  Germany,  Ile- 
de-France,  Picardy  and  Champagne,  and  Normandy.  Since 
there  were  many  Protestant  students  from  Burgundy,  Sain- 
ts Buet,  p.  37. 

^^  Lacombe,   Catherine   de   Medicis   entre  Guise  et  Conde,   Paris, 
1899,  p.  32. 

20  Lacombe,  p.  27. 

21  Crevier,  Histoire  de  I'Universite  de  Paris,  7  vols.,  Paris,  1761 ; 
vol.  vi,  p.  33. 


^6  FRENCH  protestantism:  1559-1562  [504 

tonge,  Poitou,  and  Rochelle,  the  intent  of  the  reduction  in 
the  number  of  "  nations  "  is  obvious.--  It  is  needless  to  ex- 
plain that  mutinous  students  of  all  Catholic  localities  fanned 
the  flames  against  the  Protestants. 

The  Venetian  ambassador,  Jean  Michiel,  wrote  in  1561 
that  the  University  of  Paris  was  frequented  by  twenty  thou- 
sand students,  mostly  poor.-^  The  best  subjects  were  theol- 
ogy, Greek,  Latin  and  French  letters,  in  addition  to  phi- 
losophy and  mathematics.  Many  doctors  and  jurisconsults 
were  counted  among  the  university  graduates.  The  foreign 
minister  comments  upon  the  low  salaries  and  the  great 
obligations  of  the  professors.  The  "  externes  "  of  the  uni- 
versity lived  in  the  homes  of  the  Parisians,  and  were  not 
under  the  professor's  care  after  the  lessons  were  over,  but 
the  Procureur-General  wanted  it  enjoined  upon  principals 
and  masters  of  colleges,  upon  penalty  of  losing  their  privi- 
leges, to  hold  their  students  both  in  and  out  of  the  university. 
The  new  religious  liberty  which  had  been  introduced  by 
the  native  and  foreign  "  nations  "  was  beginning  to  annoy 
the  Guises.  When  the  novel  spirit  commenced  to  permeate 
the  monasteries  of  St.  Germain  de  Pres  and  St.  Croix,  and 
to  presage  the  desertion  from  the  Catholic  ranks  of  whole 
convents  and  consistories  in  and  around  the  rabid  capital, 
injunctions  were  secured  to  prevent  the  monks  from  assist- 
ing in  university  processions.-*  In  a  university  far  larger 
than  any  American  college,  it  would  seem  impossible  to  keep 
the  students  exempt  from  religious  divisions,  yet  an  edict 
of  the  Parlement  of  Paris  of  July  9,  1562,  ordered  all  mem- 
bers of  the  university  to  make  confession  of  the  Roman 
Catholic  faith. -^  The  first  civil  war  had  then  been  raging 
for  months. 

At  Valence  University  there  were  from  1555  to  1563  two 
great  Reform  professors,  Cujas  and  Loriol  in  law.  The 
Protestant  students  met  openly  for  the  first  time  on  Sunday, 

22  Aldeguier,  Histoire  de  Toulouse.    4  vols.,  Toulouse ;  vol.  i,  p.  396. 
-3  Relations  .  .  .  venetiens,  vol.  i,  p.  263. 
-*  Crevier,  vol.  vi,  p.  80. 
25  Conde,  vol.  iii,  p.  524. 


5O5II  THE   REFORM    AT   ITS    HEIGHT  97 

March  31,  1560,  at  8  a.m.  and  2  p.m.,  in  the  CordeHers 
church.^®  The  Calvinists  among  the  professors  and  stu- 
dents at  Toulouse  University  became  so  strong  that  they 
threatened  to  overthrow  the  government  with  the  help  of 
Montauban,  than  which  no  name  in  Huguenot  annals  shines 
more  brightly.  Monluc  discovered  the  plot,  however,  on 
June  24,  1562,  and  the  history  of  the  civil  wars  produced 
no  greater  ferocity  than  that  exhibited  towards  one  another 
by  the  civilian  populations  of  Catholic  Toulouse  and  Protest- 
ant Montauban.  If  the  Romanists  were  savages,  the  Montau- 
banese  passed  motions  that  all  who  were  destined  to  "  idol- 
atry" were  worthy  of  being  burned.^^  Of  all  the  seats  of 
learning  in  France  the  universities  at  Orleans,  Bourges,  and 
Toulouse  were  classed  by  Beza  as  the  chief  places  in  which 
the  Reform  had  its  inception.  The  church  of  the  Hugue- 
nots at  Orleans,  in  1557,  and  many  others  in  university 
towns,  were  directly  due  to  Lutheran  students  and  the  influ- 
ence of  professors  of  civil  law  and  humanism. ^^ 

The  progress  of  the  reform  may  be  profitably  considered 
according  to  the  accessions  from  the  ranks  of  the  various 
classes,  the  nobility,  the  clergy,  and  the  third  estate.  Until 
1555  the  converts  to  Protestantism  in  France  had  mainly 
been  drawn  from  the  middle  classes — tradesmen,  artists, 
lawyers,  doctors,  teachers,  and  other  thinking  people.  Be- 
tween 151 5  and  155s  the  only  nobles  professing  the  Reform 
were  Farel,  Berquin,  de  Coct,  Gaudet  and  Margaret  of 
Navarre.-^  Some  have  thought  that  the  greatest  Protestant 
leaders,  outside  of  Conde,  were  ladies.  Conde's  wife  and 
mother-in-law  probably  came  over  to  the  Reform  in  1558- 
The  Huguenots  made  their  supreme  attempt  to  capture 
France  at  the  colloquy  of  Poissy,  in  the  summer  of  1561. 
In  the  previous  May  Chantonnay  reported  to  his  imperial 

26  Arnaud,  Histoire  des  Protestants  du  Dauphine.    3  vols.,  Paris, 

1875,  p.  I. 

27  Le  Bret,  Histoire  de  Montauban.  2  vols.,  Montauban,  1668; 
Tol.  ii,  p.  34. 

28  Bulletin  de  la  Societe  de  protestantisme  franqaise.  60  vols., 
Paris ;  vol.  xxxviii,  p.  86. 

'8  Blackburn,  Coligny,  vol.  i,  p.  15. 

7 


^8  FRENCH  protestantism:  1559-1562  [^506 

master  at  Madrid  a  statement  of  the  Prince  Roche-sur-yon 
that  a  majority  of  the  nobility  were  Protestant.^"  The 
Venetian  ambassador  Michiel  wrote  to  the  Doge  in  the 
same  year  to  the  effect  that  especially  the  nobles  not  over 
forty  years  of  age  were  being  "  contaminated."^^  Weill 
bears  witness  that  up  to  1561  converts  had  not  been  made 
among  the  nobles.^^  In  Crespin's  "  Histoire  des  Martyrs  " 
for  the  preceding  forty  years  there  appear  the  names  of 
only  three  nobles  and  two  country  people.  At  the  epoch  of 
the  Poissy  and  Pontoise  colloquies,  however,  the  court  was 
being  won  over  to  the  new  religion,  and  by  1562  the  Re- 
formed churches  found  themselves  ready  for  the  contest, 
because  of  the  accession  of  a  great  many  nobles,  mostly  fresh 
recruits.  The  plot  of  Jacques  de  Savoie,  due  de  Nemours, 
to  kidnap  the  young  duke  of  Orleans,  and  the  success  of 
CoHgny  in  allaying  opposition  to  Catherine  de  Medicis  at  the 
Estates  of  Pontoise,  may  well  have  served  to  win  over  some 
of  the  nobility  to  the  Reform. 

With  two  hundred  names  of  Knights  of  the  Order,  privy 
councilors,  captains,  and  military  leaders,  the  Protestant 
party  appeared  predominantly  aristocratic.  Thenceforth  the 
Huguenot  annals  were  to  be  adorned  with  such  names  as 
Conde,  Roman,  Andelot  Portien,  Coligny,  Rochefoucauld, 
Chartres,  Genlis,  Senarpont,  Prenne,  Montgomery,  Sombise, 
La  Noue,  Morny,  Chalons,  Fouquieres,  La  Fayette,  Mor- 
villier,  Bouchavannes,  Puygreffier,  Du  Viger,  Mouvans,  St. 
Aubun,  La  Suze,  Duras,  Teligny,  Dummartin,  Esternas,  St. 
Remy,  Briquemault,  Bussy,  and  St.  Foye.  In  the  words  of 
the  Venetian  representative  in  Paris,  "  heresy  had  corrupted 
almost  all  the  nobility  and  a  great  part  of  the  French  people. 
Without  doubt  heresy  had  its  root  and  germ  among  the 
powerful ;  this  was  because  of  the  plot  of  the  Bourbons 
against  Guise.  The  Bourbons  used  religion  as  a  means  to 
crush    Guise."^^     To     the     Italian     mind    the    chancellor 

30  Archives  Nationales,  K.  1494,  No.  83,  May  i,  1561, 

31  Relations  .  .  .  venetiens,  vol.  i,  p.  409. 

32  Weill,  p.  62. 

33  Relations  .  .  .  venetiens,  vol.  ii,  p.  55. 


507]  THE    REFORM    AT   ITS    HEIGHT  99 

L'Hopital  was  the  head,  and  Conde  the  workman.  The 
latter  was  called  the  "  capitaine  muet "  of  the  university 
students  who  were  accused  of  complicity  in  the  Amboise 
conspiracy. 

The  court  at  Paris,  or  wherever  the  king  shifted  his  head- 
quarters in  order  to  elude  his  creditors,  was  not  alone  in 
contributing  converts  among  the  first  estate.  Philip  of 
Spain  was  informed  by  his  henchmen  at  the  French  court 
that  many  of  the  nobles  of  Languedoc,  Provence,  Lyonnais, 
and  Auvergne,  provinces  of  the  Rhone  river  valley,  had 
gone  over  to  the  Reform.^*  Andelot,  the  brother  of  Co- 
ligny,  had  accepted  Protestant  doctrines  in  1557,  and  along 
with  pastor  Carmel  repaired  to  his  estates  in  Brittany.  In 
Nantes,  the  Breton  city  celebrated  for  its  edict  of  tolera- 
tion of  1598,  the  Reform  counted  many  people  of  letters 
and  several  members  of  Parlement  as  early  as  1559.  In 
Brittany  and  Picardy  all  the  nobles  and  three-fourths  of 
the  men  of  letters  were  Protestant  by  1562.^^  Soon  Ande- 
lot was  endeavoring  to  consolidate  the  new  churches  in  Brit- 
tany. The  governor  of  Guyenne  shocked  the  Guises  by 
declaring  for  the  Reform.  As  a  result  of  the  Protestant 
public  preaching  in  Valence  and  Montelimart  many  lords 
left  the  Catholic  party.  Chief  among  these  was  the  nephew 
of  Cardinal  Tournon,  Sire  de  Montbrun,  who  endeavored 
to  prevail  upon  all  his  vassals  to  join  the  Huguenots.  Cler- 
mont, lieutenant-governor  of  Dauphiny,  was  removed  on 
account  of  his  leniency  towards  the  new  faith.  In  rural 
feudal  districts  conversion  was  mainly  due  to  the  influence 
of  Protestant  gentlemen-farmers,  often  retired  bourgeois, 
who  purchased  the  country  estates  of  the  older  nobility  who 
had  been  bankrupted  by  the  Italian  and  Flemish  wars,  or 
preferred  to  live  at  court. 

The  nobles  at  the  Protestant  stronghold  of  Orleans  were 
emphatic  in  their  response  to  the  articles  of  peace  sent  by 
King  Charles  IX  on  May  15,  1562.  Seven  items  were  in- 
sisted upon.     The  January  Edict  should  be  observed.     The 

3*  Archives  Nationales,  K.  14Q5,  No.  58,  Aug.  i,  i.s6i. 

35  Benoit,  Elie,  Histoire  de  I'Edit  de  Nantes.     Delft,  1693,  p.  19. 


100  FRENCH    protestantism:    I559-I562  C508 

Guises  must  return  to  Lorraine.  Protestant  temples  were 
to  be  permitted.  The  royal  government  was  named  to  sup- 
plant the  Guises.  All  things  done  in  council  during  the 
king's  captivity  should  be  declared  void.  The  troops  of 
Antoine  of  Navarre  must  be  disbanded.  Upon  the  foreign 
soldiers  of  the  Guises  an  immediate  check  was  to  be  put.^*' 
Recognizing  the  increasing  strength  of  the  Protestant  no- 
bles, the  Parlement  of  Paris  on  the  thirteenth  of  July,  1562, 
issued  a  proclamation  enjoining  all  royal  officers  to  make 
profession  of  their  faith  in  the  Roman  Catholic  religion 
upon  penalty  of  forfeiting  their  positions.^^ 

Society  in  the  towns,  which  for  a  long  time  had  not  gov- 
erned themselves,  was  aristocratic  and  controlled  by  the  no- 
bility and  clergy.  The  nobles  and  gentlemen  dominated 
the  m_ajor  portion  of  rural  lands,  and  dictated  public  con- 
duct from  medieval  fortified  castles.  More  often,  however, 
they  were  at  war  or  at  court.  The  nobles  alone  constituted 
the  regular  cavalry,  which  in  the  sixteenth  century  was  the 
principal  arm  of  the  service.^^  Accordingly  the  nobility 
wielded  great  power  in  the  state  and  the  acquisition  by  the 
Huguenots  of  two  hundred  such  adherents  and  their  con- 
nections had  tremendous  military  and  political  significance. 

The  second  source  of  accession  to  the  ranks  of  the  Prot- 
estants was  the  clergy.  The  upper  ecclesiastics  had  great 
riches  and  ranked  as  great  lords,  while  the  lower  clergy 
were  very  poor.  Noting  the  agitation  among  the  classes, 
the  Italian  Michiel  in  1561  averred  that  the  contagion  of 
Protestantism  was  spreading  even  to  priests,  monks,  bishops, 
and  convents,  of  which  few  were  free  from  the  "pest."^^ 
Even  in  Provence,  Dauphiny,  and  Normandy,  which  claimed 
the  greatest  number  of  Catholics  of  the  provinces,  "  all  ex- 
cept those  who  fear  loss  of  life  and  property  are  profoundly 
aflfected."  He  adds  that  the  prisons  were  being  emptied|» 
doubtless  in  order  to  swell  the  riots  against  the  Huguenots. 

2^  Conde,  vol.  iii,  p.  375. 

^^  Ibid.,  vol.  iii,  p.  524. 

^s  Thompson,  p.  18. 

^^  Relations  .  .  .  venetiens,  vol.  i,  p.  409. 


509]  THE    REFORM    AT   ITS    HEIGHT  lOI 

Guyenne,  except  Bordeaux,  was  badly  "infected,"  while  the 
priests,  friars,  nuns,  bishops,  and  prelates  were  deserting 
the  established  church  in  Touraine,  Poitou,  Gascony,  Nor- 
mandy, Dauphiny,  Languedoc,  and  Provence.^"  Among  the 
former  priests  who  became  Huguenot  ministers  were  Mar- 
lorat  and  Barelles,  pastors  at  Rouen  and  Toulouse,  respec- 
tively.*^ Whole  convents  came  into  the  movement.  The 
Cordeliers  and  Dominicans  at  Die,  Milhaud,  and  St.  Foye 
in  Agenois  early  in  May,  1562,  gave  their  convent  to  the 
Reform.*-  Preachers  from  Geneva  seemed  to  act  as  mag- 
nets to  many  of  the  thoughtful  priests.  Psalms  were  sung 
at  the  court.  The  discussions  permitted  between  the  doc- 
tors of  the  Sorbonne  and  priests  with  the  Protestants  upon 
such  subjects  as  images,  baptism,  mass,  imposition  of  hands, 
and  the  Eucharist  often  terminated  in  conversion  to  the  new 
faith.  These  individual  cases  persisted  in  spite  of  the  fact 
that  the  Sorbonne  let  it  be  freely  understood  that  it  would 
never  obey  any  order  issued  to  the  injury  of  the  Catholic 
religion,  even  should  the  crown  change  its  faith.  Numer- 
ous priests  were  dissatisfied  over  the  granting  of  bishoprics 
and  abbeys  to  sectaries,  often  foreign,  rather  than  to  good 
Catholics.  Others,  observing  the  disinclination  of  the  gov- 
ernment to  punish  certain  tumults  on  account  of  religion, 
as  well  as  the  early  favor  of  Navarre  and  the  grandees  at 
court,  declared  openly  for  Protestantism. 

The  people  of  France,  according  to  Caesar,  had  always 
distinguished  themselves  above  the  rest  of  Europe  in  re- 
ligious zeal,  so  now  in  both  Catholic  and  Protestant,  a  gloAv- 
ing  earnestness  seemed  to  characterize  the  church  member 
of  the  sixteenth  century.  One  reason  for  the  enthusiasm 
on  the  side  of  Protestantism  among  the  common  people  was 
the  fact  that  the  Huguenot  ministers  preached  in  French 
and  avoided  the  mysterious  Latin.  After  the  sermon,  serv- 
ice was  continued  with  prayer  and  singing  of  psalms  in 
French  rhyme,  with  vocal  and  instrumental  music  in  which 

*o  Archives  de  la  Gironde,  vol.  xiii,  p.  132 ;  vol.  xvii,  p.  256. 
*i  Floquet,  Histoire  du  Parlement  de  Normandie,  vol.  ii,  p.  307. 
*2  Arnaud,  Dauphine,  p.  114. 


102  FRENCH    PROTESTANTISM!    I559-I562  [5IO 

the  congregation  joined.  But  the  attraction  was  not  uni- 
versal, for,  although  the  French  third  estate  contributed 
largely  to  the  2150  Protestant  congregations,  the  peasants 
remained  strongly  Catholic.  The  primary  reason  for  this 
was  social  and  on  the  whole  the  peasant  was  contented. 
The  economic  changes  of  the  fifteenth  and  sixteenth  cen- 
turies were  disastrous  to  the  artisan,  but  reacted  in  favor 
of  agriculture.  Economists  tell  us  that  the  rent  paid  to  the 
landlord,  immutably  fixed  in  the  twelfth  and  thirteenth  cen- 
turies, represented  under  the  new  values  of  money  a  light 
burden,  while  the  decline  in  the  value  of  silver  enhanced 
the  nominal  worth  of  the  products  of  the  soil.  Land 
values  were  falling  rapidly  at  the  very  time  when  the  French 
gentry,  ceasing  to  be  an  aristocracy  of  gentlemen- farmers 
and  becoming  a  court-nobility,  were  forced  to  dispose  of 
their  estates  in  order  to  meet  their  expenses.  When  any 
nobleman,  from  Lorraine  to  Navarre,  desired  to  sell  at  any 
price  a  portion  of  his  estate,  there  was  inevitably  in  that 
particular  section  a  countryman  who  had  been  hoarding  for 
years  and  now  consummated  the  life-long  wish  to  become 
a  land  owner.  The  reigns  of  Louis  XII  and  Francis  I 
marked  an  era  of  genuine  prosperity  for  the  peasants  of 
France.  When  this  condition  is  contrasted  with  the  state 
of  the  German  peasant,  who  at  the  period  of  the  revolt  of 
1525  was  relapsing  into  servitude,  one  may  readily  see  why 
there  was  not  in  France  a  violent  religious  and  social  up- 
heaval. Economic  conditions  did  indeed  become  more  acute 
for  the  peasantry,  with  the  accession  of  Henry  II  in  1547, 
but  not  nearly  so  crucial  as  for  the  artisans  and  others  of 
the  common  people.  We  do  not  find  the  peasants  fleeing 
abroad,  as  did  many  workmen,  in  order  to  escape  persecu- 
tion. Wherever  the  Reform  took  effect  among  the  peas- 
antry it  can  be  traced  to  a  quiet  movement  in  the  hearts 
of  men. 

How  did  the  component  groups  of  the  parties  in  the  civil 
war  compare?  On  the  Catholic  side  were  the  clergy  and 
the  Romish  masses.  Queen  Catherine,  veteran  warriors,  bril- 


51 1 J  THE    REFORM    AT   ITS    HEIGHT  103 

liant  courtiers,  able  statesmen,  shrewd  diplomats,  keen 
lawyers,  distinguished  courtiers,  and  Spain  and  Rome.  In 
the  Protestant  ranks  was  a  scorned  sect,  a  "  company  under 
the  ban,  a  crowd  of  malcontents,"*^  yet  including  nobles, 
owners  of  castles,  military  captains,  gentlemen,  discerning 
statesmen,  freeholders,  and  several  celebrated  women. 

The  heads  of  the  king's  party  were  cognizant  of  the  wars 
in  foreign  countries  on  account  of  religion,  but  the  common 
people  mostly  knew  nothing  of  them  and  could  never  believe 
that  there  was  such  a  great  number  of  Protestants  in 
France.  Estimates  as  to  the  proportion  of  Catholics  and 
Protestants  in  the  sixteenth  century  were  widely  divergent. 
Merimee  accounts  for  one  million  and  a  half  Huguenots, 
with  proportionately  more  wealth,  soldiers,  and  generals 
than  the  opposite  communion.**  The  bishop  St.  Croix,  who 
on  October  i6,  1561,  upon  the  occasion  of  his  tour  of 
France,  reported  to  his  Italian  colleagues  that  he  had  found 
no  images  or  crosses  broken,  wrote  that  the  "most  clear 
headed  and  circumspect  in  France  assure  me  that  there  is 
at  most  only  one-eighth  of  France  whose  sentiments  are  not 
Catholic."*^  His  statement  of  January  7,  1562,  expressed 
the  sentiment  that  the  kingdom  was  upon  the  point  of  final 
ruin  with  no  escape.  Giving  testimony  as  to  the  over- 
whelming number  of  heretics  in  France,  the  Catholic  bishop 
of  Viterbo  was  so  sure  of  the  wrack  and  ruin  of  the  nation 
that  he  obtained  his  recall  to  Italy,  as  early  as  the  middle 
of  May,  1 561.*®  A  remonstrance  of  1562  to  the  Pope  re- 
iterated that  one-fourth  of  France  was  separated  from  the 
communion  of  Rome.*^  A  Venetian  source  of  March  14, 
1562,  said  that  there  were  600,000  Huguenots  in  France.*^ 
King  Charles  IX's  remonstrance  to  the  Pope  called  atten- 
ds Blackburn,  vol.  i,  p.  186. 

**  Merimee,  Prosper,  Chronique  du  regne  de  Charles  IX.     Paris, 
1S56,  p.  8. 
*■'  St.  Croix,  vol.  i,  p.  14. 

*»Baird,  Beza,  p.   127;  Great  Britain,  Cal.  St.  P.  For.,  May  17, 
1561. 
*7Cal.  St.  P.  For.,  No.  1453  (1562). 
*'  Ibid.,  No.  935. 


104  FRENCH  protestantism:  1559-1562  [512 

tion  to  the  fact  that  one-quarter  of  the  kingdom  was  Prot- 
estant.*^ The  reader  must  remember  that  there  were  one 
hundred  and  forty  episcopal  towns  in  France,  each  as  "  full 
as  possible."^"  Paris  in  1559  had  450,000  population.  Let- 
tenhove  remarks  that  the  Protestants  were  most  numerous 
in  central  France,  and  that  it  was  there  that  the  assemblies 
most  multiplied.^^  The  Venetian  ambassador  estimated 
that  scarcely  one-third  were  heretical  in  1567.^-  With  con- 
temporaries so  wide  apart  in  their  enumerations  the  investi- 
gator is  obliged  to  be  cautious  with  estimates. 

Beza  recorded  2150  Protestant  churches.  Orleans  had 
7000  members.  Normandy  boasted  305  pastors,  Provence 
sixty.  The  average  congregation,  however,  must  have  been 
much  smaller  than  those  in  the  Huguenot  strongholds  of 
Orleanais,  Normandy,  and  Provence.  Montluc  put  the 
population  of  France  at  sixteen  millions.  Had  there  been 
1,600,000  Protestants,  or  one-tenth  of  the  inhabitants,  each 
of  the  2150  churches  would  have  averaged  750  members. 
Thompson  considers  that  less  than  half  this  number  would 
be  closer  to  the  truth,  with  not  one  over  three-quarters  of 
a  million  before  the  massacre  of  St.  Bartholomew.*' 

A  few  figures  upon  the  provinces  and  towns  are  available. 
Suriano  wrote  on  April  17,  1561,  "there  is  not  one  single 
province  uncontaminated."^*  Coligny  told  the  king  in  1560 
that  there  were  50,000  Protestants  in  Normandy.^^  Dijon 
was  two-thirds  Lutheran,  according  to  an  echevin  of  the 
city  in  1554.  Eight  years  later  two  thousand  of  them  were 
expelled  by  Tavannes.  In  the  southwest  Bordeaux  had 
7000  Protestants  and  two  ministers  within  the  inner  walls, 
in  1561.'^®  Toulouse,  upstream  from  Bordeaux  and  Mon- 
tauban  on  the  Garonne,  possessed  a  strong  contingent  of 

*3  Conde,  vol.  ii,  p.  812. 
^o  Suriano,  p.  363. 

51  Lettenhove,  p.  73. 

52  Relations  .  .  .  venetiens,  vol.  ii,  p.  121. 
•''3  Thompson,  p.  231. 

5*  Great  Britain,  Cal.  St.  P.  Ven.,  272. 

55  Floquet,  vol.  ii,  p.  318. 

56  Devienne  (C),  Histoire  de  la  ville  de  Bordeaux.  Bordeaux, 
1771,  p.  132. 


5133  THE   REFORM    AT   ITS    HEIGHT  105 

20,000.  Often  audiences  of  10,000  would  greet  the  pastor 
at  the  suburban  services,  while  five  thousand  more  was  not 
an  unusual  assemblage  in  the  city  temple.  Even  in  the  little 
town  of  Anduze,  at  the  entrance  of  the  Cevennes,  three 
thousand  Huguenots  would  assemble  at  the  service  during 
the  year  1560.  In  the  coast  town  of  Dieppe  in  Picardy  two 
thousand  met  once  a  day.^^ 

The  pacific  reform  reached  its  high  water  mark  in  France 
and  Beam  early  in  1560.  Between  that  time  and  the  out- 
break of  the  civil  war  there  were  conflicts  between  the  two 
parties  which  need  to  be  considered  in  connection  with  the 
whole  story  of  French  Protestantism,  for  the  previous  thirty 
years  had  also  witnessed  a  series  of  attempts  to  crush  it  by 
violence.  The  period  after  1560  is  the  martyrdom  of  the 
Huguenot  church.  Holland  alone  surpassed  France  in  the 
number  of  victims,  and  both  were  quite  in  contrast  to  the 
cases  of  England  and  Scotland,  where  the  pilgrim  may 
stand  by  every  stake.  In  France  a  generation  of  the  purity 
of  Protestantism,  free  from  political  alliances  and  fixed 
creeds  and  forms  of  worship,  may  be  said  to  have  termi- 
nated in  1560,  to  be  followed  by  a  fierce  struggle  for  su- 
premacy. 

Among  causes  for  conflict  the  images  in  the  churches 
seemed  especially  to  incite  the  ire  of  the  Huguenots. 
Throckmorton  reported  the  first  instance  of  the  year  1560 
on  February  27.  Writing  to  Queen  Elizabeth  he  said  that 
"idols  had  been  cast  out  of  the  churches  throughout  Aqui- 
taine,  and  the  same  procedure  would  speedily  be  instituted 
in  Provence."^®  Chantonnay  informed  the  duke  of  Sessa 
on  March  24  that  some  insurgents  at  St.  Malo  had  killed 
certain  public  officials  and  prevented  an  execution.  The  fol- 
lowing day  the  cardinal  Bourbon  on  his  way  to  Rouen  passed 
a  grove  where  two  thousand  Calvinists  were  listening  to  a 
sermon.  A  riot  ensued  when  a  priest  and  a  clerk  called 
them  Lutherans.     Two  days  later  the  preacher  was  burned 

"  Great  Britain,  Cal.  St.  P.  For.,  No.  857,  Jan.  i,  1561. 
58  Ibid.,  For.,  No.  779. 


io6  FRENCH  protestantism:  1559-1562  C514 

at  the  stake.^^  On  the  fourteenth  of  April  the  ambassador 
at  Paris  from  Venice  wrote  home  that  the  insurgents  in 
Provence  "  have  stripped  the  churches  and  mutilated  the 
images. '"'^  In  Dauphiny  the  achievements  of  Montbrun, 
a  convert  of  Beza,  made  him  famous.  Early  in  May  the 
Huguenots  became  masters  of  Provence,  by  the  admission 
of  the  Italians.  It  was  reported  that  "very  free  sermons 
have  been  delivered  in  the  churches  of  Bayonne,"  in  Na- 
varre,®^ and  the  bishop  of  Agen  wrote  that  the  inhabitants 
of  that  city  were  in  a  state  of  furious  insurrection.  On 
May  II,  1560,  Calvin  wrote  from  Geneva  to  the  French 
Protestants  that  he  had  not  communicated  with  them  for 
six  months  on  account  of  his  deep  sorrow  that  the  Reform 
should  have  taken  up  arms.  The  peace  of  Amboise  had 
marked  the  triumph  of  the  aristocratic  element  of  the  Prot- 
estants whose  interests  were  identified  with  their  political 
purposes  and  feudal  position,  over  the  Geneva  party. 

The  Pope's  delegate  left  Avignon  on  the  thirteenth  of 
August,  1560,  in  "  disgust  at  the  license"  of  the  Dauphinese 
Calvinists.*^^  In  the  middle  of  October  the  people  of  Am- 
boise and  Tours  stormed  the  prisons  and  released  all  those 
confined  as  agitators  on  account  of  religion.^^  The  valley 
of  the  Loire  seems  to  have  been  the  storm  center  of  these 
provincial  uprisings.  On  account  of  a  personal  affront, 
Guise  had  taken  an  aversion  to  Tours  and  suggested  that 
the  king  punish  that  town. 

April,  1 56 1,  was  signalized  by  Huguenot  outbreaks  at 
Pontoise  and  Beauvais  in  Picardy,  at  Angers  and  Le  Mans 
in  Poitou.  Southern  France  was  also  disturbed.  Chan- 
tonnay  wrote  of  the  organized  character  of  the  Huguenot 
agitations,  especially  at  Toulouse,  in  June.  By  September 
the  Protestants  of  Montpellier  in  Languedoc  had  formed  a 
league  with  the  motto :  "  No  mass,  no  more  than  at  Ge- 

59  Archives  Nationales,  K.  1493,  No.  45. 

60  Great  Britain,  Cal.  St.  P.  Ven.,  No.  146. 
^1  Negociations  toscanes,  vol.  iii,  p.  419. 

«2  Cal.  St.  P.  For.,  No.  416. 
^3  Ibid.,  Ven.,  No.  200. 


5153  THE    REFORM    AT   ITS    HEIGHT  I07 

neva,""^  and  in  December,  1561,  riots  occurred  in  Troyes, 
Orleans,  Meaux,  Vendome,  Auxerre,  Bourges,  Lyons,  An- 
gers, Tours,  Rouen,  and  Bazas. *'^ 

The  year  1562  was  ushered  in  with  many  misgivings  as 
to  the  feasibihty  of  maintaining  a  state  of  peace  in  the  king- 
dom. Like  a  thunder  clap  came  the  massacre  of  Vassy  on 
the  first  of  March.  Manifestations  of  Huguenot  activity 
before  the  actual  outbreak  of  war  were  ominous.  In  Paris 
five  hundred  cavalry  of  Conde's  retinue  accompanied  the 
Huguenot  preacher  to  service  daily,  according  to  Bishop 
St.  Croix.^"  Nineteen  days  after  the  massacre  Chanton- 
nay  informed  the  Spanish  king  that  the  nobles  of  Guyenne 
were  complaining  of  the  insolence  of  the  heretics. °^  On 
Sunday,  May  3,  1562,  thirty-six  Catholic  churches  in  Rouen 
were  sacked  by  the  Protestants.  Worship  in  the  Norman 
towns  of  Havre,  Rouen,  Caen,  and  Bayeux,  and  in  Dieppe 
in  Picardy  was  suspended  for  six  months.^®  Conde  testi- 
fies that  by  May  23  there  was  not  a  recollection  of  the  mass 
in  Poitou  and  Dauphiny.  The  Catholics  of  the  latter  prov- 
ince and  of  Lyons  fled  to  Savoy  on  the  sixth  of  June.®^ 
Lyons  had  abolished  mass  on  the  first  day  of  the  same 
month.  In  October,  1562,  the  Huguenots  of  Rouen,  under 
truce,  demanded  liberty  of  preaching  and  the  permission  to 
live  according  to  their  religion.  Furthermore,  they  re- 
quested that  the  Edict  of  January  be  observed,  and  that  they 
might  preach  freely  in  the  cities  all  over  France.  The  terms 
had  included  only  worship  outside  the  walls.  In  the  coun- 
ter proposals  to  Conde  the  Huguenots  were  to  be  allowed 
to  practice  their  religion  peaceably  in  their  homes,  but  public 
worship  not  to  be  permitted  even  outside  the  towns.  Po- 
litical conditions  caused  a  break  in  the  negotiations,  but  on 
December  9  there  were  recorded  the  three  articles  proposed 
by  Conde  while  he  was  besieging  Paris.     They  foreshad- 

«*  Archives  Nationales,  K.  1495,  No.  47,  June  19,  1561. 

*'  Haton,  vol.  i,  pp.  195-198. 

««  St.  Croix,  p.  94,  March  19,  1562. 

"  Archives  Nationales,  K.  1497,  No.  16,  March  20,  1562. 

"*  Floquet,  vol.  ii,  p.  390. 

*9  Conde,  vol.  ii,  p.  20. 


i68  FRENCH  protestantism:  1559-1562  [516 

owed  the  outlines  of  future  edicts  of  toleration,  such  as 
those  of  Amboise,  Longjumeau,  and  Bergerac.  First,  there 
was  to  be  liberty  of  conscience  with  free  exercise  of  reli- 
gion where  demanded ;  secondly,  security  of  life  and  prop- 
erty for  all ;  thirdly,  a  free  council  to  be  summoned  within 
six  months,  or  if  that  were  not  feasible,  a  general  assembly 
of  the  realm.  As  later  modified  the  articles  provided  (i) 
that  Calvinist  preaching  should  be  allowed  in  the  suburbs 
of  frontier  towns,  or  in  certain  designated  places;  (2)  that 
it  should  obtain  only  in  those  localities  where  it  had  been 
practised  at  the  outbreak  of  hostilities;  (3)  exception  to  be 
made  that  it  should  be  lawful  for  all  gentlemen  and  nobles 
to  have  private  services  in  their  own  homes ;  (4)  that  all 
persons  dwelling  in  sections  where  preaching  was  not  per- 
mitted should  be  allowed  to  proceed  to  the  nearest  towns 
for  the  exercise  of  religion  without  molestation.  In  reply 
the  royal  government  stipulated  that  Paris  and  environs 
should  be  excepted,  and  that  Lyons  was  not  to  be  consid- 
ered a  frontier  town.'"  In  the  following  February  of  1563 
Poitou,  Guyenne,  La  Rochelle,  and  Picardy  rebelled  again.''^ 
The  response  to  the  Huguenot  outbreaks  was  made  with 
pen,  tongue,  and  sword.  Some  of  the  Catholic  writers  in- 
stituted a  literary  crusade  against  the  new  faith.  It  was 
insinuated  that  the  upper  classes,  especially  the  nobles,  had 
left  the  established  church  because  they  were  of  a  race  of 
born  sceptics.  The  new  worship  was  destined  to  failure, 
for  the  reason  that  the  religion  of  the  higher  strata  of  so- 
ciety was  not  often  that  of  the  lower.  No  leader  domi- 
nated the  rest,  nor  was  there  unity  among  the  Protestant 
leaders.  Writing  a  little  later  Pasquier  declares  that  the 
"  new  religion  first  harassed,  then  lodged  itself  among  us 
with  furious  insolence.""  He  condemns  theoretically  the 
legality  of  wars  of  religion,  but  does  not  condemn  war  un- 

70  Great  Britain,  Cal.  St.  P.  For.,  No.  1219,  Dec.  9,  1562;  Beza, 
vol.  ii,  p.  121. 

''I  Cal.  St.  For.,  No.  395,  March  3,  1563. 

72  Les  Oeuvres  d'Estienne  Pasquier.  2  vols.,  Paris,  1723;  vol.  ii, 
p.  451. 


5173  THE   REFORM    AT   ITS    HEIGHT  109 

dertaken  with  purely  religious  motives.  Henry  II  is  blamed 
for  being  proclaimed  "  protecteur  de  la  liberte  germanique  " 
— that  is,  heresy — which  he  calls  the  profound  cause  of  the 
civil  wars.  God  punished  France  for  protecting  heresy 
abroad.  The  proper  means  of  banishing  the  new  sect  would 
have  been  administrative  and  judicial  persecution,  less 
bloody  than  war  but  more  effective  in  the  long  run.  In  this 
connection  a  Catholic  eye  witness  of  the  struggle  asserts 
that  the  wars  were  the  judgment  of  God,  just  when  France 
purposed  to  be  most  at  ease.'^^  Upon  the  principle  that  for- 
eign wars  are  the  best  antidote  for  domestic  divisions,  the 
Huguenots,  in  order  to  attain  full  liberty  of  conscience, 
rendered  themselves  formidable  by  calling  in  the  assistance 
of  the  Protestants  of  the  Empire. 

Reaction  against  violence  was  bound  to  ensue  and  a  mod- 
ern Catholic  writer  is  doubtless  correct  in  assuming  that  it 
would  be  difficult  for  the  Reform  to  combat  the  embellished 
cathedrals,  the  patron  saints,  and  the  gold  mitres  of  his 
church,  all  of  which  appealed  to  the  imagination  of  the 
people.  They  might  well  ask  if  these  were  barbarians  or 
Moslems  who  destroyed  the  images.^*  One  of  the  Venetian 
ambassadors  wrote  home  that  it  seemed  a  paradox  to  say 
that  the  war  of  1 561-1563  was  useful  to  the  king,  but  that 
such  was  the  case,  for  when  the  Protestants  began  to  pillage 
the  poor  people  exclaimed :  "  Where  have  they  seen  that 
Christ  commanded  to  steal  and  kill?"^^  Yet  this  should 
be  compared  with  the  record  of  the  Catholic  bishop  who  on 
February  28,  1562  (the  day  before  the  Vassy  massacre), 
wrote  that  the  Protestants  "  complain  that  they  are  treated 
like  Jews  and  wish  his  majesty's  permission  to  carry  arms 
for  defence."""  Conde  had  previously  remarked  that  the 
king  was  acting  like  a  good  doctor  who  recognized  the  mal- 
ady without  knowing  the  cause.  "  Sickness  of  spirit  is  not 
cured  like  that  of  the  body."^^     It  was  true  in  France  that 

^3  Castelnau,  vol.  i,  p.  30. 

''*  Capefigue,  Histoire  de  la  Reforme,  p.  271. 

■^5  Relations  .  .  .  venetiens,  vol.  ii,  p.  119. 

■^o  St.  Croix,  p.  64. 

^'^  Conde,  vol.  i,  p.  542. 


no  FRENCH   protestantism:    I559-1562  [^518 

the  activity  of  society  was  the  inverse  of  the  activity  of  the 
state.  The  progress  of  Hberty  in  the  heart  of  nations  always 
corresponds  to  the  weight  of  the  yoke  on  their  necks. 
"When  the  tyranny  is  an  idea  it  is  heavier  than  a  sceptre, 
causing  a  more  energetic  revolt,"  wrote  Dargaud.  All 
France  was  full  of  libels  and  invectives,  of  responses  and 
replies.  The  Huguenot  historian  Laplanche  marvelled  that 
the  roots  of  Catholicism  were  not  torn  up  by  the  torrent 
of  writing  and  pamphlets. 

The  violent  means  undertaken  by  the  Catholics  prior  to 
the  civil  wars  to  stamp  out  the  Reform  contributed  greatly 
to  its  success.  A  few  instances  must  suffice.  On  May  i, 
1 56 1,  there  occurred  a  rising  in  Aries  against  the  Protestant 
minister.''^  The  following  day  the  Parlement  of  Toulouse 
issued  an  arret  repressing  all  assemblies,  congregations,  and 
the  carrying  of  arms,''^  and  horrible  punishments  were  meted 
out  in  that  town.  A  Roman  Catholic  writer  admits  that  the 
capitouls  displayed  no  human  traits,^°  and  according  to  the 
records  at  the  city  hall  they  vied  for  honors  of  inhumanity. 
Bloody  Montluc  was  astounded  at  the  bloodier  Parlement 
of  Toulouse,  yet  though  the  Garonne  ran  crimson,  a  year 
later  there  were  20,000  Huguenots  in  the  town.  In  Valence 
La  Mothe-Gondrin  beheaded  Duval,  a  Protestant  pastor 
and  ex-Carmelite.®^  So  great  was  the  hatred  against  the 
Protestants  in  Marseilles  that  on  some  mornings  many 
would  be  found  hanged  in  different  sections  of  the  city. 
The  king  in  letters  patent  said  that  he  had  never  intended 
to  include  Marseilles  in  the  Edict  in  favor  of  the  Hugue- 
nots, and  that  he  desired  no  public  or  secret  preaching  in 
that  metropolis.®-  Partly  in  retaliation  the  Earl  of  War- 
wick turned  all  the  people  out  of  the  towns  on  the  Norman 
coast  and  seized  the  Catholic  shipping  after  peace  had  been 
signed,  believing  that  Charles  IX  could  not  raise  an  arma- 

78  Archives  Nationales,  K.  1494,  No.  83. 

79  K.  1495,  No.  35. 
8<*  Aldeguier,  p.  396. 

SI  Arnaud,  Dauphine,  p.  55. 

s-  Ruffi,  Histoire  de  la  ville  de  Marseilles,  vol.  i,  p.  338. 


519]  THE   REFORM    AT   ITS    HEIGHT  HI 

ment.^^  The  social  results  were  profound.  In  1562  hus- 
bandry was  almost  entirely  neglected  in  France,  while  the 
poor  people  fled  from  their  homes  rather  than  be  exposed 
to  both  enemies.  Trades  and  the  mechanical  arts  were 
abandoned,  for  merchants  and  tradesmen  closed  their  shops 
and  joined  the  armies.  Justice  could  not  be  administered, 
since  force  and  violence  reigned.  Yet  the  number  of  Prot- 
estants continued  for  a  time  to  increase. 

The  planting  of  the  Protestant  churches  remains  for  con- 
sideration. The  Romorantin  edict  of  May,  1560,  and  the 
supplementary  decree  of  August  drew  back  into  France 
many  of  those  who  had  left  the  country.  Some  of  these 
were  ministers  who  gave  new  life  to  the  party.  Between 
1555  and  1566  Geneva  sent  one  hundred  pastors,  among 
them  William  Farel,  who  returned  to  Gap  in  November  of 
1 561  after  an  absence  of  thirty-eight  years.®*  In  the 
king's  council,  convened  at  Fontainebleau  on  August  20, 
1560,  the  Huguenots  demanded  churches  of  their  own. 
Admiral  Coligny  presented  petitions,  one  to  the  king,  the 
other  to  his  mother,  in  which  the  sovereigns  were  requested 
to  grant  two  places  of  worship  in  two  parts  of  France  for 
greater  convenience,  in  order  that  private  congregations 
might  assemble  without  molestation.^^  After  the  death  of 
Francis  II  on  Decembers,  1560,  a  great  number  of  refugees 
returned  from  Germany.  The  declaration  of  toleration  by 
Charles  IX,  which  followed  on  January  7,  1561,  was  so 
liberal  an  edict  that  Paris  soon  abounded  with  Huguenot 
preachers.  Philip  of  Spain  was  informed  on  the  ninth  of 
March  that  there  was  secret  preaching  at  Fontainebleau 
and  in  the  woods  around.^''  On  April  13  the  Bishop  of  Va- 
lence preached  before  the  queen  with  the  proposal  that  the 
Bible  should  be  read  by  every  one  in  his  own  language  and 
the  Psalms  chanted."     Nine  days  later  the  Spanish  ambas- 

83  Castelnau,  vol.  v,  p.  248. 

8*  Arnaud,  Dauphine,  p.  81. 

85  Great  Britain,  Cal.  St.  P.  Ven.,  No.  19S,  Aug.  30,  1560. 

85  Archives  Nationales,  K.  1494,  No.  32. 

87  Conde,  vol.  ii,  p.  3. 


112  FRENCH    protestantism:    I559-1562  [52O 

sador  Chantonnay  bluntly  informed  Catherine  that  some  of 
the  bishops  of  the  established  church  should  not  be  allowed 
to  reside  in  their  parishes  simply  because  they  could  not 
compete  with  the  regular  ministers  of  the  Huguenots. 
Through  the  deputies  of  the  churches  dispersed  throughout 
the  realms  of  France  the  Protestants  presented  on  June  ii, 
1 561,  a  request  to  the  king,^®  in  which  they  declared  that 
the  reports  of  their  refusing  to  pay  taxes  were  false,  and 
begged  to  be  permitted  to  build  churches.  The  response 
was  to  the  effect  that  the  July  edict  of  Romorantin  was  to 
obtain  until  the  Colloquy  of  Poissy,  set  for  the  summer  of 
1 561.  Directly  after  the  colloquy  even  the  Catholics  ad- 
mitted that  the  Reform  was  making  great  progress.  Chan- 
tonnay wrote  to  the  duke  of  Parma  that  "  Beza  preached 
yesterday  the  most  abominable  sermon  ever  made,  and  the 
people  flocked  in  by  the  doors  and  the  windows  with  mar- 
vellous eagerness. "^^  On  the  last  day  of  August  he  con- 
fessed to  de  Tisnacq  that  the  Huguenot  preachers  there  had 
more  assurance  than  the  priests.  The  request  made  by  the 
deputies  of  the  new  religion  to  have  temples,  probably  at 
St.  Germain  en  Laye,  was  handed  in  on  January  22,  1562, 
five  days  subsequent  to  the  famous  edict  of  toleration.  Two 
months  later  matters  had  gone  so  far  that  there  was  a  re- 
monstrance by  the  Catholics  against  placards  placed  in  pub- 
lic view  on  Parisian  street  corners  by  the  Huguenots. ^° 

In  which  province  did  the  Huguenot  movement  spread 
most  rapidly  ?  The  gospel  showed  its  first  fruits  and  power 
in  the  seaboard  provinces.  Lower  Poitou  and  Normandy 
were  the  chief  Protestant  provinces.  Poitou,  with  its  towns 
of  Moncontour,  Chatellerault,  La  Roche-sur-Yon,  Poitiers, 
Niort  and  Lusignan,  had  the  most  adherents  and  began  the 
agitation  for  a  book  of  discipline.  Normandy,  for  its  size, 
was  probably  the  most  Protestant  province,  for  there  Cal- 
vinism not  only  obtained  in  the  ports  and  "  good  "  towns, 

s8  Archives  Nationales,  K.  1495,  No.  42. 
^^  Bersier,  Coligny,  p.  267. 
^o  Conde,  vol.  iii,  p.  100. 


52l]  THE    REFORM    AT   ITS    HEIGHT  II3 

but  in  the  country  areas  as  well.^'^  The  coast  trade  with 
England  and  Holland  undoubtedly  explains  Protestantism 
in  Lower  Normandy,  but  the  reasons  of  its  prevalence  on 
an  extensive  scale  in  the  rural  portion  are  quite  obscure. 
The  next  to  the  southwest  was  Brittany,  where  Andelot, 
Coligny's  brother,  was  endeavoring  to  consolidate  the  Hu- 
guenot development.  Adjoining  Brittany  and  Poitou  was 
the  little  division  of  Aunis,  where  the  Reform  was  intro- 
duced by  several  who  had  been  in  Brazil  with  Villegagnon. 
Here  also  lay  Saintonge,  in  whose  cities  of  Brouage,  Saintes, 
and  St.  Jean  d'Angely  preaching  was  taking  place.  Just 
across  the  border,  in  the  inland  province  of  Angoumois,  was 
Cognac,  whose  Protestant  church  was  formed  November  i, 
1558.  As  to  Guyenne,  on  the  coast  of  the  Bay  of  Biscay, 
Montluc  said  that  in  this  large  province  Huguenotism  was 
prevalent  among  the  peasants.^-  Within  its  confines  were 
located  the  important  subdivisions  of  Perigord,  Quercy,  and 
Rouergue.  The  governor  of  Guyenne  had  joined  the  ranks 
of  the  Huguenots,  along  with  Bouillon  of  Normandy  and 
other  nobles  who  came  out  openly  at  the  death  of  Henry  H. 
In  Gascony  there  were  evidences  of  the  penetration  of  Prot- 
estantism into  the  country  districts  to  the  extent  that  four 
hundred  churches  had  the  liberty  of  preaching  without  fear 
of  punishment.""  The  adjacent  province  of  Beam  was  rap- 
idly won  to  the  new  religion.  The  seaboard  provinces  in 
general  were  peopled  by  brave  and  hardy  people,  though 
naturally  addicted  to  luxury  and  excess.  As  a  result  of 
the  religious  movement,  however,  the  artist  Palissy  reported 
that  "  banquets  and  superfluities  of  coiffure  ceased :  there 
were  fewer  scandals  and  murders,  and  less  licentious  songs 
and  debauched  men  at  the  inns."®* 

Provence  on  the  Mediterranean  and  Dauphiny  on  its 
northern  border  were  Huguenot  strongholds.  Both  prov- 
inces fattened  on  the  commerce   from  Italy  through  the 

»i  Crottet,  p.  28. 

'2  Commentaires  et  lettres  de  Montluc,  vol.  iv,  p.  115. 
*3  ArchivQs  Nationales,  K.  1495,  No.  49,  July  i,  1561. 
»*  Crottet,  p.  65. 
8 


114  FRENCH  protestantism:  1 559-1 562  [522 

Alpine  passes  and  cleared  through  Lyons,  the  capital  of 
Calvinist  printing  in  France.  Upper  Languedoc  included 
the  divisions  of  Cevennes,  Vivarais,  and  Velay.  The  piety 
of  the  Protestant  Cevennes  and  other  hill  countries  of  the 
south  of  France  was  phenomenal  in  the  sight  of  foreigners. 
No  stretch  of  the  imagination  could  have  classified  the  citi- 
zens of  Vivarais,  north  of  the  Cevennes,  as  devoted  to  the 
crown  and  Roman  Catholicism. '^^  Their  neighbors  of  Ve- 
lay who  were  Huguenots  met  in  the  open  with  butchers, 
masons,  or  tavern  keepers  as  preachers.^® 

In  Lyonnais  and  Forez,  just  west  of  the  frontier  of 
Savoy,  there  were  few  great  lords  to  impose  their  domina- 
tion. The  nobility  was  poor  and  there  were  few  great  fami- 
lies. Barring  Lyons  the  inhabitants  were  stanch  Catholics. 
Lyons  for  a  long  time  had  fought  the  temporal  domination  of 
its  archbishops  and,  more  resolutely  even  than  Germany,  dis- 
liked ecclesiastical  government.  Altogether  the  city  offered 
a  marvelous  field  for  the  Reform,  and  might  have  been  the 
capital  of  surgery  as  well  as  of  printing  had  not  Rome  im- 
posed obstacles.  Owing  to  the  restrictions  in  the  profession 
there  were  only  five  surgeons  in  Lyons  to  fight  the  plague 
in  1564,  although  it  had  the  oldest  and  best  hospital  in 
Europe  at  the  time.  Protestants  were  not  allowed  at  first 
to  be  pharmacists,  but  this  prohibition  was  removed  after 
they  began  to  practise  at  Poitiers  and  Niort  in  Poitou. 
Ramus  said  it  cost  881  livres  in  1561  to  have  a  doctor  or 
surgeon.®^  Notwithstanding  the  many  obstructions  the  num- 
ber of  Protestants  increased.  Lyons  and  the  Dauphiny  con- 
stituted one  ecclesiastical  province  and  the  churches  held 
four  provincial  synods  in  1561,  beginning  at  the  former 
town  on  April  13.  The  second  and  third  synods  were  held 
on  the  last  day  of  July  and  the  eighth  of  September.  At  the 
fourth  synod  (November  25)  the  new  churches  of  Macon, 
Chalon,  Beaune,  and  Buxy,  in  Burgundy,  and  all  of  those 
in  the  Comtat-Venaissin,  including  Avignon,  were  incorpor- 

85  Steyert,  vol.  iii,  p.  118. 

86  Mandet,  Velay,  p.  27. 

87  Duparcq,  Charles  IX,  p.  9. 


5233  '^HE    REFORM    AT   ITS    HEIGHT  II 5 

ated.^^  There  are  evidences  of  the  penetration  of  Protest- 
antism into  country  districts  elsewhere,  as  in  Orleannais, 
Nivernais,  Blesois,  the  diocese  of  Nimes,  and  even  in  iso- 
lated portions  of  Champagne  in  northern  France.  The 
ecclesiastical  department  of  Champagne  and  Brie  included 
Troyes,  Chalon,  Melun,  Auxerre,  Chaumont,  Mezieres, 
Reims,  Sens,  Langres,  Sedan,  and  Meaux.^^ 

Fragmentary  traces  of  churches  are  also  found  other  than 
those  which  have  been  previously  described.  St.  L6, 
Dieppe,  and  Caen,  in  Normandy,  dared  to  have  public 
preaching.  The  movement  in  Tours  awakened  the  resent- 
ment of  the  Duke  of  Guise.^**"  Of  Orleans  Minister  Faget 
wrote  Calvin  on  December  15,  1558,  that  everything  was 
prospering.  In  Paris  the  consecration  of  a  child  was  the 
occasion  of  the  establishment  of  the  first  Protestant  church.^*'^ 
As  early  as  September,  1555,  M.  de  la  Ferriere,  from  Maine, 
moved  the  election  of  Jean  Magon  (de  Launay)  as  a  min- 
ister, though  the  candidate  was  but  twenty-four  years  of 
^gg  102  ji^g  chancellor,  L'Hopital,  later  permitted  public 
preaching  in  the  Porte  St.  Antoine."^  The  mother  of  the 
Prince  of  Porcien  opened  her  palace  to  religious  assemblies, 
while  the  guild  halls  of  the  city  were  free  to  Calvin's 
preachers.  Beza  stated  that  after  the  Edict  of  Romorantin 
the  Reformers  met  in  barns  at  Montpellier,  Rouen,  Nimes, 
Meaux,  Auxerre,  Castres,  and  outside  the  walls  at  Angers, 
Sens,  Bordeaux,  Bourges,  Grenoble,  and  towns  in  Brittany 
and  Normandy.^"*  The  new  church  at  Lanjon  had  Morel 
as  pastor.  Otrand  was  minister  at  Pons.  The  remarkable 
Charles  Leopard  began  at  Arvert,  in  Saintonge,  in  February, 
1560.  At  St.  Just  nearly  everyone  abjured  the  Roman 
church  and  new  edifices  sprang  up  in  the  neighborhood, 

*^  Capefigue,  Histoire  de  la  Reforme,  p.  94. 
99  Blackburn,  vol.  i,  p.  86. 
10"  Laplanche,  vol.  i,  p.  234. 
1"!  Lacombe,  p.  19. 

102  Blackburn,  vol.  i,  p.  86. 

103  Merki,  L'Amiral  de  CoHgny,  la  maison  Chatillon  et  la  revolte 
protestante.    Pan's,  1909,  p.  256. 

10*  Beza,  vol.  i,  p.  600. 


ii6  FRENCH  protestantism:  1559-1562  [524 

particularly  at  Marennes.^°^  The  first  church  at  Nimes  was 
planted  by  Mauget,  in  1560.  Audiences,  who  were  com- 
pelled to  meet  in  the  daytime,  averaged  four  thousand  in 
number.^"*'  There  is  an  account  of  a  sermon  in  the  same 
town  delivered  on  the  sixth  of  October,  1560,  by  Vinet,  a 
remarkable  orator  of  fifty  years.  Die  adopted  the  Reform 
en  masse,  to  become  effective  on  May  i,  1562.  This  was  in 
emulation  of  Milhaud  and  St.  Foye,  in  Agenois.^°^ 

Suriano  wrote  to  Venice  that  "  thirty  cursed  sects  "  had 
sprung  up,  who  argued  that  the  king's  authority  did  not  ex- 
tend to  their  conscience.  He  lamented  that  even  in  the 
States-General  speeches  against  the  Catholics  were  allowed. 
France  in  his  opinion  was  approaching  a  popular  state  like 
the  Swiss  republic,  on  account  of  the  new  doctrine.  "  Le 
sujet  n'est  pas  oblige  d'obeir  a  son  prince,  lorsqu'il  com- 
mande  de  choses  qui  ne  sont  point  contenues  dans  I'Evan- 
gile."^*^^  Indeed,  in  church  polity  the  Protestants  were 
carrying  the  change  further  than  the  Reformers  elsewhere 
in  Europe.  In  England  and  Germany  the  Protestants  still 
adhered  to  many  of  the  institutions  of  the  medieval  church, 
retaining  episcopates  and  inferior  clergy  as  deacons,  arch- 
deacons, canons,  curates,  besides  clinging  to  the  vestments, 
ornaments,  and  canonical  habits. 

As  to  names  for  the  reformers  there  has  been  some  con- 
fusion. Among  the  thirty  sects  mentioned  by  Suriano  it 
has  been  a  common  error  to  identify  "  Huguenot "  with 
"  Vaudois,"  but  there  seems  to  have  been  no  historical  con- 
nection between  the  two.  The  Vaudois  were  almost  a 
memory  when  the  term  "  Huguenot "  was  first  applied  by 
the  Comte  de  Caylus.  In  the  despatch  written  on  Novem- 
ber 18,  1560,  by  this  colonel  of  legionaries  of  Languedoc 
sent  to  chastise  the  rebels  we  read :  "  II  n'y  a  plus  de  ces 
seditieux   huguenaulx   rassemblees    dans   les    Cevennes."^"^ 

105  Crottet,  p.  42. 

106  Corbiere,  Histoire  de  I'Eglise  reformee  de  Montpellier,  p.  10. 
lo'^  Arnaud,  Dauphine,  p.  114. 

10^  Suriano,  p.  378. 

109  Devic  et  Vaissete,  Languedoc,  vol.  xi,  p.  347. 


525II  THE    REFORM    AT   ITS    HEIGHT  117 

Among  various  explanations  of  the  origin  of  the  name  the 
Catholic  Davila  asserted  that  the  Calvinists  in  Tours  met 
near  Hugo's  gate;  hence,  "  Huguenots.''^^"  Whatever  the 
origin  it  was  a  nickname  applied  by  the  Romanists,  yet  the 
latter  in  great  numbers  thought  their  own  name  "  Catholic  " 
fatal  to  Christianity.  Under  this  title  had  not  Germany 
broken  away  under  Leo  X;  England,  under  Clement  VII; 
France,  under  Pius  IV?  The  death  of  the  latter  pope,  five 
weeks  after  Henry  II,  was  welcomed  as  a  deliverance  both 
by  Romans  and  foreigners.  Of  great  talents,  he  ruled  in 
an  extremely  critical  period.  Even  the  term  "catholique- 
ment "  in  the  various  edicts  entailed  endless  controversy  and 
confusion. 

The  high  water  mark  of  the  French  Reformation  was 
reached  in  the  terms  of  the  peace  of  Amboise,  March  19, 
1563.  Conde  was  to  succeed  Navarre.  The  Reform  was 
to  be  permitted  everywhere  save  in  Paris.  The  king  was  to 
appoint  one  town  in  each  bailiwick  where  religion  might  be 
preached.  All  gentlemen  holding  fiefs  might  have  preach- 
ing in  their  homes,  while  nobles  enjoying  high  justice  could 
have  preaching  on  their  estates.  Property  confiscated  from 
either  church  should  be  restored.^^^ 


110  Davila  (Henrico  C),  Historia  de  las  guerras  civiles  de  Francia. 
Madrid,  1651,  p.  64.  The  word  "Huguenot"  is  thought  by  others 
to  be  a  corruption  of  "  Eidgenossen,"  confederates. 

m  Isambert,  vol.  xiv,  p.  135. 


CHAPTER   V 

Friends  and  Foes  at  Home  and  Abroad 

The  wars  of  religion  in  France  present  a  most  complete 
instance  of  the  intersection  of  home  and  foreign  influences. 
This  condition  was  largely  attributable  to  the  increasing 
means  of  expeditious  communication,  among  which  the  least 
observable  but  the  most  potent  was  the  royal  mail.  Louis 
XI  ascending  the  throne  just  one  century  before  the  out- 
break of  the  first  war  of  religion,  had  established  royal  post- 
men. The  astute  policy  of  this  monarch  included  land  or 
sea  supremacy  in  the  eastern  Mediterranean,  despite  the 
handicap  of  Moslem  domination  of  Constantinople.  At  the 
advent  of  Louis'  son,  Charles  VHI,  France  boasted  230 
relays  of  mail  carriers.  In  1495,  the  very  year  during 
which  Charles  entered  Naples  without  opposition,  the  mail 
service  was  extended  to  Rome.  The  Due  de  Bourbon, 
writing  from  Paris  to  the  Italian  metropolis  on  the  15th  of 
December,  1494,  received  a  reply  four  weeks  later  on  the 
I2th  of  January.^  An  ordinance  pertinent  to  our  subject  is 
that  of  Francis  II,  May  29,  1560,  concerning  the  mails.^  It 
ordered  that  the  route  to  Dauphiny,  a  Mediterranean  prov- 
ince, should  be  by  way  of  Lyons,  Grenoble,  and  Villeneuve. 
It  fixed  the  wages  and  number  of  carriers  thus :  thirty-six 
on  the  route  from  Paris  to  Bordeaux;  twenty-four,  Paris 
to  Metz ;  eighteen,  Lyons  to  Marseilles ;  seventeen  each, 
Bordeaux  to  St.  Jean  de  Luz,  Paris  to  Navarre,  Blois  to 
Nantes,  Boulogne  to  Paris ;  nine,  Paris  to  Peronne.  These 
royal  carriers  were  just  beginning  to  be  entrusted  with  the 
mail  of  individuals.  Until  the  middle  of  the  century  mes- 
sengers of  universities  or  of  merchant  corporations  carried 

1  Foville,  La  Transformation  des  Moyens  de  Transport,  p.  184. 
-  Limoges,  p.  416. 

118 


5273  FRIENDS   AND    FOES    AT    HOME   AND   ABROAD  II9 

private  mail.^  Fourteen  years  after  the  first  war  of  religion 
the  edict  of  1576  regulated  the  departures  and  fixed  the 
prices  of  letters  and  their  answers,  and  charged  fifteen 
deniers  for  a  package  of  more  than  one  ounce.  The  effect 
of  the  improved  means  of  communication  upon  the  spread 
of  the  Reform  can  scarcely  be  exaggerated. 

One  of  the  foreign  countries  with  which  the  Huguenots 
were  in  correspondence  was  Flanders  where  some  of  the 
foremost  friends  of  the  Reform  were  to  be  found.  The 
similarity  between  the  Flemish  movement  and  the  progress 
of  the  political  Protestants  is  very  close.  The  connection 
between  politics  and  religion  in  France  and  the  Low  Coun- 
tries was  reciprocal.  The  regent  of  Flanders  and  Granvella, 
the  Spanish  ambassador,  implored  Philip  II  to  come  to  the 
Netherlands  in  order  to  crush  the  heretics,  but  the  monarch 
pleaded  ignorance  of  the  language  and  poverty.  Meanwhile 
the  Orange  party  practised  so  successfully  with  Margaret  of 
Parma  that  the  regent  inclined  toward  conciliation  instead 
of  coercion.  She  proposed  to  convoke  the  States-General 
in  order  to  remedy  the  evils,  a  program  which  the  nobles 
enthusiastically  advocated.  The  latter  demanded  the  recall 
of  Granvella,  who  was  presently  ordered  to  Madrid.  Gran- 
vella, in  order  to  suppress  heresy  in  its  two  most  active 
centers,  proposed  to  imitate  the  method  used  at  Paris,  by 
exacting  a  profession  of  faith,  together  with  a  pledge  to 
observe  the  laws,  of  all  citizens  who  desired  to  remain  in 
the  city.  Recalcitrants  were  to  be  disarmed,  compelled  to 
sell  their  property,  one-third  of  which  must  be  confiscated 
for  municipal  and  military  expenses,  and  then  banished.* 
The  prince  of  Orange  protested  vehemently. 

In  1563  the  activity  of  the  French  Protestants  in  Flanders 
became  a  matter  of  serious  apprehension  to  the  Roman 
Catholics.  Demonstrations  at  Tournay  and  Valenciennes 
became  so  bold  in  May,  1563,  that  it  took  six  companies 

•  Pigeonneau,  p.  jd. 

*Gachard,  Correspondance  de  Philippe  II  sur  les  Pays  Bas.  4 
vols.,  Brussels,  1848-1859;  vol.  i,  p.  277.  Philip  to  Alva,  Dec.  14, 
1563. 


120  FRENCH    PROTESTANTISM:    I559-I562  [528 

of  infantry  to  keep  the  Huguenots  overawed.  The  latter 
city  was  the  most  aggressive  in  the  province  and  was  proud 
of  the  largest  number  of  converts,^  Brussels,  too,  boasted 
a  great  church.  The  Protestants  were  especially  numerous 
in  the  Walloon  provinces,  where  there  were  many  ministers 
from  England  and  Geneva.  By  November,  1563,  it  could 
be  seen  that  a  common  purpose  actuated  the  important 
provinces  of  Flanders,  Artois,  Holland,  Utrecht,  and  Zee- 
land.  Chantonnay  cautioned  Margaret  of  Parma  to  be  on 
her  guard  against  the  combination  of  Dutch  rebels  and 
French  Protestants.^ 

Adjacent  to  Flanders  lay  the  three  bishoprics  which  were 
early  famous  for  their  interest  in  the  new  faith.  The  lax- 
ness  of  episcopal  discipline  in  the  first  half  of  the  sixteenth 
century  contributed  to  this  spirit,  and  finally  led  to  a  Catho- 
lic reaction.  Philip  of  Spain  was  anxious  to  see  France 
despoiled  of  Metz.  On  December  9,  1561,  the  English  cor- 
respondent recorded  that  there  was  some  anxiety  in  France 
lest  the  German  Empire  might  seize  the  Bishoprics.^  Ferdi- 
nand, however,  in  addition  to  activities  in  Turkish  and 
Muscovite  quarters,  was  at  odds  with  the  Pope  over  the 
Council  of  Trent,  and  was  friendly  towards  France.  Metz 
inclined  more  towards  Calvinism  than  to  Lutheranism ; 
under  French  domination  it  passed  definitely  over  to  Calvin- 
ism. Vieilleville,  the  governor,  was  moderate  in  his  policy, 
and  granted  the  Protestants  a  church  in  the  interior  of  the 
town.  During  the  first  Civil  War  the  Metz  Protestants 
remained  quiet,  but  soon  after  Farel  visited  the  city  for  the 
third  time  and  stirred  up  its  religious  activity.  Charles, 
cardinal  of  Lorraine,  suppressed  Huguenot  preaching  in  the 
diocese  and  closed  the  church,  and  upon  Charles  IX's  tour 
of  the  provinces  in  1564  the  building  was  demolished.  One 
of  the  motives  for  the  support  of  the  Protestant  cause  by 
John  Casimir,  prince  palatine,  was  the  promise  offered  by 
the  Huguenots  that  he  would  be  given  the  government  of 

5  Papiers  d'etat  du  cardinal  Granvelle,  vol.  vii,  p.  270. 
"  Archives  Nationales,  K.  1497,  Nos.  30,  23. 
7  Great  Britain,  Cal.  St.  P.  For.,  No.  712. 


529]  FRIENDS   AND    FOES    AT    HOME   AND   ABROAD  121 

Metz.  Another  bishopric  was  Treves-on-Moselle,  eighty- 
six  miles  south  of  Cologne.  The  see  of  Treves,  which 
claims  to  include  the  oldest  town  in  modern  Germany,  had 
appeared  as  an  archbishopric  in  the  ninth  century.  Among 
its  most  powerful  archbishops  who  attained  considerable 
temporal  power  was  Richard  von  Greiffenklau,  who  as 
early  as  1531  distinguished  himself  by  his  opposition  to  the 
incipient  Reformation.  Even  the  cardinal  of  Lorraine,  how- 
ever, was  unable  to  cope  with  the  influence  upon  the  Tre- 
varans  of  ministers  from  Switzerland  and  Champagne.^  In 
the  bishopric  of  Strasburg  the  Reform  found  ready  accept- 
ance, its  foremost  champion  there  being  Martin  Bucer. 
During  the  ensuing  period  of  religious  dissension  the  city 
was  skillfully  piloted  by  the  "  stadtmeister  "  Jacob  Sturm. 
The  church  at  Strasburg  was  included  in  the  important 
Schmalkalden  League  of  Protestant  churches,  organized  in 
1 53 1,  and  the  period  intervening  before  the  first  war  of 
religion  saw  the  Strasburg  congregation  rise  superior  to 
persecution. 

The  three  Scandinavian  countries  were  early  bulwarks  of 
Protestantism  and,  like  the  other  neighbors  of  France  to  the 
northeast,  supplied  ministers  and  money  to  the  Reform 
movement.  The  Danes  proposed  that  a  French  prince  should 
marry  the  sister  of  King  Christian  III,  while  they  hoped  to 
induce  the  sovereign  himself  to  become  the  fiance  of  Mary 
Stuart.^  Protestantism  would  have  profited  by  these  ar- 
rangements, for  the  father  of  the  Danish  king,  Frederick  I 
of  the  house  of  Oldenburg,  had  accepted  the  Protestant  faith 
in  the  year  1525. 

The  conditions  which  neutralized  Protestant  England's 
position  in  relation  to  the  French  Reform  have  been  discussed 
in  an  earlier  chapter.  Looking  elsewhere  both  friendly  and 
hostile  sentiments  might  be  found  in  Switzerland  and  Ger- 

8  British  Quarterly  Review,  July,  1875 :  article  "  Augusta  Tre- 
verorum,"  by  E.  A.  Freeman. 

3  La  Place,  P.  de,  Commentaires  de  I'etat  de  la  religion  et  de  la 
republique  sous  Henri  II,  Frangois  II  et  Charles  IX.  Paris,  1565, 
p.  122. 


122  FRENCH    PROTESTANTISM:    I559-I562  [530 

many.  The  term  "  neutral "  could  more  reasonably  be  ap- 
plied to  the  latter.  In  1499  ^he  Swiss  had  practically  re- 
nounced their  allegiance  to  the  emperor,  the  temporal  chief 
of  the  world  according  to  medieval  theory.  In  the  six- 
teenth century  a  great  number  of  them  did  the  same  by  the 
world's  spiritual  chief,  the  pope.  The  scene  of  the  revolt 
was  Zurich  and  the  leader  Ulrich  Zwingli  was  both  a  poli- 
tical and  a  religious  reformer.  He  was  ardently  in  favor  of 
securing  for  Bern  and  Zurich  the  chief  power  in  the  con- 
federation, because  of  their  importance  and  size,  and  can 
be  considered  the  founder  of  Swiss  neutrality  toward  other 
states.  At  the  famous  meeting  at  Marburg  in  October, 
1529,  Zwingli  tried  to  come  to  an  agreement  with  Luther 
on  the  subject  of  the  eucharist  but  failed,  and  the  gulf 
between  the  Swiss  and  German  Reformations  was  widened. 
Just  before  the  first  war  of  religion  in  France  the  Counter 
Reformation,  or  reaction  in  favor  of  the  old  faith,  began 
to  make  itself  felt  in  the  confederation.  Cardinal  Charles 
Borromeo,  whose  dispatches  have  been  quoted  previously, 
lent  his  efforts  to  that  effect  upon  entering  upon  his  arch- 
bishopric of  Milan  in  1560.  Besides  this  nephew  of  Pope 
Pius  IV,  Ludwig  Pfyffer,  commander-in-chief  of  the  Swiss 
mercenaries  in  France  from  1562  to  1570,  accomplished  so 
much  towards  the  religious  reaction  at  home  that  he  was 
termed  the  "  Swiss  King." 

In  1559  the  Swiss  cantons  numbered  thirteen.  The  seven 
Catholic  members  were  Uri,  Schwyz,  Unterwalden,  Zug, 
Lucerne,  Freiburg,  and  Soleure.  On  the  side  of  the  Re- 
form were  Zurich,  Glarus,  Basel,  Appenzell,  Schaffhausen, 
and  Bern,  which  alone  was  thirty  times  as  large  as  the 
smallest  Catholic  canton  and  quadruple  the  size  of  the 
largest.  On  the  29th  of  April,  1562,  the  Huguenots  en- 
deavored to  persuade  the  Protestant  cantons  to  prevent  the 
Catholic  states  from  supporting  the  Duke  of  Guise."  The 
Bernese  told  Conde  that  they,  among  other  Protestant  can- 
tons, would  not  suffer  the  levying  of  any  soldiers  to  fight 

10  Great  Britain,  Cal.  St.  P.  Ven.,  No.  285. 


531 3  FRIENDS   AND    FOES    AT    HOME    AND   ABROAD  123 

against  the  Protestants.  On  the  other  hand,  the  Papist 
cantons,  at  a  meeting  of  the  Swiss  Diet  on  May  22,  1562, 
at  Soleure  not  five  miles  from  the  Bernese  border,  offered 
to  send  6000  infantry  to  the  aid  of  Charles  IX."  One  group 
of  states  promised  fifteen  ensigns,  who  arrived  at  Blois  on 
August  seventh,  after  using  the  Franche-Comte  route,  but 
other  cantons  of  Catholic  persuasion  balked  at  assisting 
France,  pleading  penury.  The  fact  that  Bern  acted  as  a 
natural  barrier  between  Paris  and  all  the  Catholic  cantons 
except  Freiburg  was  an  element  of  great  weight.  The 
troops  of  the  solid  east  central  group  of  five  Papal  cantons 
had  to  make  a  wide  detour,  no  less  than  did  the  auxiliaries 
of  the  five  widely  scattered  smaller  Protestant  states. 

The  leading  Protestant  princes  of  Germany  included  the 
elector  of  Saxony,  the  margraves  of  Baden  and  Branden- 
burg, the  landgraves  of  Hesse  and  Thuringia,  the  Count 
Palatine,  the  prince  of  Anhalt,  and  the  dukes  of  Wurtem- 
burg,  Mecklenberg  Holstein,  and  Zweibriicken.^-  All  were 
Lutheran  except  the  Calvinist  Count  Palatine  and  the  land- 
grave of  Thuringia.  Confirmation  of  stories  of  grave  dif- 
ferences between  the  two  Protestant  denominations  in  Ger- 
many, circulated  chiefly  by  the  Guisards,  is  lacking.  In 
border  towns  of  both  countries  theological  disputes  were  in- 
evitable. Castelnau  reported  a  brawl  in  Frankfort  between 
the  Lutherans  and  Calvinists,  both  of  whose  assemblies 
happened  to  be  in  session  there.^"  The  German  princes 
tried  to  prevent  soldiers  leaving  for  France.  Wurtemberg 
allowed  none  by  way  of  Montbeliard,  while  Strasburg  for- 
bade enlistments  under  heavy  penalties.  The  bishops  of 
the  Rhine  kept  quiet.  Hesse  stopped  cavalry  recruiting. 
Only  Lorraine  and  the  three  bishoprics  permitted  unim- 
peded enlistments.  Roggendorf  was  a  famous  pro-Guise 
recruiter.  The  turncoat  Navarre  on  April  8,  1562,  en- 
gaged 1200  German  mounted  pistoleers  and  an  equal  num- 

11  Revue  Historique,  vol.  xcvii,  p.  305. 

1-  Letter  of  F.  Hotman,  December  31,  1560. 

i3  Castelnau,  p.  153. 


124  FRENCH    protestantism:    I559-I562  [532 

ber  of  horse,  which  arrived  at  Blois  four  months  later.^* 
Yet  twelve  days  subsequent  to  the  hiring  of  these  merce- 
naries, the  Count  Palatine  answered  one  of  Navarre's  let- 
ters, pledging  goodwill  to  the  Reform  in  France.^^  Four 
weeks  before  the  mails  could  bring  this  reply,  the  vacillating 
Antoine  of  Navarre  had  cast  the  die  by  attending  mass  on 
Palm  Sunday,  March  22,  1562.  Conde,  his  brother,  pro- 
posed to  the  German  Protestant  princes  that  if  the  Guises 
tried  to  enlist  in  Germany,  measures  should  be  taken  to 
check  the  effort ;  that  if  the  Guisards  armed  against  Conde 
and  Coligny  and  were  supported  by  Spain,  Protestant  Ger- 
many should  send  assistance.  On  the  second  of  May,  many 
of  the  Lutheran  princes  of  Germany  advocated  an  open 
league  of  all  Protestant  states  for  mutual  protection  in  the 
hope  that  the  mere  knowledge  of  such  a  coalition  would 
restrain  their  adversaries.^"  Men  from  Saxony  and  Bran- 
denburg were  recruiting  for  the  Catholic  armies  in  France, 
with  Frankfort  as  the  distributing  point.^'^  There  were  no 
regular  Catholic  armies  as  yet,  but  only  mercenaries  under 
famous  captains.  On  the  7th  of  May,  Wurtemberg  replied 
to  the  messengers  of  Conde  that  he  had  commanded  his 
subjects  not  to  enter  the  service  of  foreign  princes.^^  On 
the  other  hand,  the  English  ambassador  was  authority  for 
the  statement  that  soldiers  were  easily  enlisted  in  the  bish- 
opric of  Treves,  on  account  of  its  proximity  to  the  French 
kingdom. ^° 

In  protesting  to  the  French  government  against  import- 
ing Germans  to  man  the  Catholic  armies,  the  Protestant 
princes  were  at  the  outset  under  a  definite  handicap.  On 
account  of  the  machinations  of  Guise,  for  over  a  month  the 
envoys  of  the  Count  Palatine,  Zweibriicken,  Wurtemberg, 
Hesse,  and  Baden  were  unprovided  with  safe  conducts.-* 

1*  Memoires  de  Theo.  Agrippa  D'Aubigne,  II,  p.  32,  note;  Archives 
Nationales,  K.  1494,  No.  105,  Oct.  28,  1561. 
IS  Conde,  vol.  iii,  p.  100. 

1^  Great  Britain,  Cal.  St.  P.  For.,  No.  11,  May  2,  1562. 
1^  Lavisse  et  Rambaud,  Histoire  Generale  de  France,  vol.  v,  p.  128. 
18  Conde,  vol.  iii,  p.  436. 

1^  Great  Britain,  Cal.  St.  P.  For.,  No.  414,  May  19,  1562. 
20  Great  Britain,  Cal.  St.  P.  For.,  674,  May  19,  1562. 


533II  FRIENDS    AND    FOES    AT    HOME   AND   ABROAD  I25 

The  same  English  despatch  of  June  13,  1562,  carried  the 
news  that  these  princes  had  put  Roggendorf  under  their 
ban.  A  paragraph  of  CathoHc  origin  of  July  20  added  that 
the  same  princes  warned  that  they  would  attack  Brabant 
should  the  Catholics  initiate  any  repressive  measures  against 
the  Huguenots  of  the  Low  Countries.^^  Heidelberg  com- 
pletely snubbed  D'Oysel,  Charles  IX's  agent,  when  he  asked 
for  aid  late  in  July.--  On  August  26,  Louis  of  Conde 
thanked  the  landgrave  of  Hesse  for  his  help  of  the  Prot- 
estant propaganda.  Candor  compels  the  statement  that  the 
Roman  Catholics  as  a  rule  were  unsuccessful  beyond  the 
Rhine  and  fortunate  in  Switzerland  and  the  episcopal  states. 
The  implacable  and  uncompromising  enemies  of  the  Re- 
form abroad  were  powerful  if  not  numerous.  They  should 
not  be  enumerated  without  mentioning  several  smaller  ones. 
Among  these  Brittany,  which  opposed  equally  the  French 
Reformation  and  the  Revolution,  had  been  a  part  of  France 
only  since  1532.  Henry  H  and  Charles  IX  were  kings  of 
France  and  dukes  of  Brittany,  the  heiress  Anne  of  Brittany 
having  been  forced  to  marry  Charles  VHL^^  The  Bretons 
may  more  reasonably  be  considered  as  "  foreign  foes  "  when 
it  is  remembered  that  they  retained  a  separate  parliament 
until  1789.  Even  the  small  kingdoms  of  Greece  and  Al- 
bania sent  troops  all  the  way  to  France  to  fight  for  the  Duke 
of  Guise."*  This  is  no  less  surprising  than  amusing,  since 
from  1453  until  the  end  of  the  eighteenth  century  almost  all 
the  occasions  on  which  the  Greek  people  appear  on  the  page 
of  history  are  episodes  in  which  they  were  butchered  or  sold 
into  slavery.  Greece  in  1560  was  under  the  sway  of  for- 
eigners. Mohammed  H  a  century  before  had  personally 
conquered  the  kingdoms  of  Albania,  Elboea,  Greece  proper, 
and  part  of  the  Peloponnesus,  but  the  Lion  of  St.  Mark, 
which  floated  over  many  of  the  Aegean  islands,  was  soon 
in  evidence  in  Athens.     The  Venetians  owned  large  posses- 

21  St.  Croix,  p.  176. 

22  Cal.  St.  P.  For.,  No.  414,  Aug.  3.  1562. 

23  de  Calan,  La  Bretagne  au  i6e  siecle.    Nantes,  1908,  p.  i. 
2*  Lavisse  et  Rambaud,  vol.  v,  p.  128. 


126  FRENCH    protestantism:    I559-I562  [^534 

sions  in  Greece  and  Albania  and  doubtless  were  responsible 
for  recruiting  the  Hellenes  for  the  French  Catholic  forces. 
As  early  as  1552  a  Moorish  ambassador  of  the  King  of 
Argos  reached  Paris.^^  Francis  I  started  the  connection 
with  the  Turks,  but  the  death  of  Henry  H  in  1559  had  ended 
for  the  time  being  the  treaties  with  the  Sublime  Porte. 

Savoy  was  the  firm  friend  of  the  established  church  in 
France.  Duke  Emmanuel  Philibert  of  Savoy  established 
in  1557  at  the  victory  of  St.  Quentin  his  reputation  as  one 
of  the  most  brilliant  generals  of  the  century.  The  peace 
of  Cateau-Cambresis  restored  to  him  his  states  with  certain 
exceptions  withheld  by  Spain  and  France.  Previously  the 
duke  had  been  governor  of  the  Low  Countries.  One  of  the 
conditions  of  the  treaty  provided  for  the  marriage  of  Em- 
manuel with  the  lovely  Margaret  of  France,  sister  of 
Henry  H.  On  June  30,  1559,  the  date  set  for  the  double 
marriage  of  Philip  of  Spain  and  Elizabeth  of  France,  and 
of  Emmanuel  and  Margaret,  Henry  H  was  mortally 
wounded  in  a  tournament.  To  make  it  more  funereal  the 
ceremony,  at  Henry's  orders,  occurred  at  midnight,  and 
possibly  the  scene  was  prophetic. 

The  French  marshal  Vieilleville  bewailed  the  aforesaid 
treaty  with  Savoy.  "What  will  become  of  those  fine  par- 
lements  of  Turin  and  Chamber}^,  and  the  chambres  des 
comptes  which  were  instituted  by  Henry  H  ?  They  all 
speak  French.  The  duke  of  Savoy  [who  lived  until  1580] 
will  soon  wipe  out  the  French  glory  of  thirty  years.  The 
chance  to  obtain  Milan  is  lost.  These  terms  help  Philip 
II,  who  will  soon  thunder  at  the  gates  of  Lyons,  our  new 
frontier."'^  As  the  fruit  of  Chantonnay's  interview  with 
Moreta,  the  Savoyard  ambassador,  early  in  April,  1562, 
when  he  discussed  a  possible  restoration  to  the  duchy  of 
certain  Piedmontese  fortresses  held  by  Philip  II,  Emmanuel 
Philibert  offered  to  the  Catholic  army  of  France  10,000 
foot  soldiers  and  600  cavalry.     Three  thousand  of  the  in- 

25  Bourciez,  p.  51. 

2^  Carloix,  Memoires  de  la  vie  de  Francois  de  Scepeaux,  sieur  de 
Vieilleville,  1527-1591.    5  vols.,  Paris,  1757;  vol.  i,  p.  28. 


535]  FRIENDS   AND    FOES    AT    HOME   AND   ABROAD  127 

fantry  and  half  the  horse  were  to  be  armed  at  the  duke's 
own  expense. ^'^  Just  four  weeks  later  the  duke  proffered 
6000  infantry  and  600  horsemen,  promising  to  pay  one-half 
their  maintenance  for  four  months.^^ 

In  Rome  there  was  an  unalterable  determination  to  tram- 
ple down  heresy  at  any  cost.  Spurred  on  by  the  colloquy 
of  Poissy,  the  consistory  of  the  Roman  Curia  resolved  on 
October  10,  1561,  to  resist  the  Protestant  movement  in 
France.  On  the  eighth  day  of  the  following  June  the  con- 
stable Montmorency  appealed  to  Rome  through  Santa  Croce 
for  a  body  of  soldiers  and  a  loan  of  200,000  ecus.*^  The 
pope  offered  50,000  crowns  per  month.  Venice,  too,  was 
uncompromisingly  anti-Protestant,  though  Catherine  de 
Medicis  had  refused  a  league  with  the  city  of  canals.^" 
French  traffic  with  Venice  had  diminished  when  the  silk 
industry  was  inaugurated  at  home  by  the  Huguenots,  and 
when  spices  were  introduced  from  Lisbon.^^  The  Vene- 
tians, however,  were  kept  closely  in  touch  with  the  progress 
of  the  French  Reform  through  the  assiduity  of  their  am- 
bassadors, upon  whose  despatches  historians  of  this  period 
largely  rely.  Genoa  seems  to  have  taken  but  little  part  in 
French  affairs  during  the  sixteenth  century.  The  Genoese 
rulers  had  for  a  time  exhibited  great  inferiority,  falling  now 
under  the  power  of  France,  now  of  Milan,  until  the  national 
spirit  appeared  to  regain  its  ancient  vigor  in  1528.  In  that 
year  Andrew  Doria  was  successful  in  throwing  off  the 
French  domination  and  restoring  the  old  form  of  govern- 
ment. A  mariner  of  Genoa  not  long  before  had  given  to 
Spain  that  new  world  which  might  have  become  the  posses- 
sion of  his  native  state  had  Genoa  been  able  to  supply  him 
with  the  ships  and  crews  which  he  so  ardently  begged  her 
to  furnish.  In  the  first  war  of  religion  Genoa  furnished 
crossbowmen  who  had  formerly  fought  in  the  western  king- 

27  Archives  Nationales,  K.  1497,  No.  21,  April  8,  1562. 

28  Conde,  vol.  ii,  p.  20. 

29  Archives  curieuses  de  I'histoire  de  France  (Cimber  and  Dan- 
jou).     Paris,  1834,  vol.  vi,  p.  86. 

3°  St.  Croix,  176,  July  20,  1562. 

31  Levasseur,  Commerce,  vol.  i,  p.  205. 


128  FRENCH    protestantism:    I559-I562  [536 

dom.  The  republic's  star  was  setting.  Her  Aegean  and 
Syrian  fortresses  were  being  abandoned,  although  many 
exist  even  to-day  around  the  Mediterranean  basin,  even  to 
the  summit  of  Mt.  Gerizim  in  the  Holy  Land.  France  was 
to  be  overrun  with  the  ferocious  German  cavalry  because 
the  inevitable  mercenaries  of  the  decadent  Italian  states 
were  needed  at  home.  I 

Philip  H  of  Spain  has  been  considered  by  many  historians 
the  real  pope  of  the  period  of  1560  rather  than  the  incum- 
bent at  Rome.  "Whoever  wishes  to  be  well  acquainted 
with  the  morbid  anatomy  of  governments,"  wrote  Macaulay, 
"  whoever  wishes  to  know  how  great  states  may  be  made 
feeble  and  wretched,  should  study  the  history  of  Spain. "^- 
The  empire  of  Philip  H  was  undoubtedly  one  of  the  most 
powerful  and  splendid  that  ever  existed  in  the  world.  In 
Europe  he  ruled  Portugal,  Spain,  the  Netherlands  on  both 
sides  of  the  Rhine,  Franche-Comte,  Roussillon,  the  Mila- 
nese, and  the  two  Sicilies,  Parma,  Tuscany,  and  the  smaller 
states  of  Italy  were  completely  dependent  upon  him.  In 
Asia  the  Spanish  monarch  was  master  of  the  Philippines, 
and  of  all  those  rich  settlements  which  the  Portuguese  had 
made  on  the  coasts  of  Coromandel  and  Malabar,  in  the  Ma- 
lacca peninsula,  and  in  the  spice  islands  of  the  Eastern 
Archipelago.  In  America  his  dominions  extended  on 
each  side  of  the  equator  into  the  temperate  zone.  The  in- 
fluence of  Philip  on  the  continent  was  as  tremendous  as  that 
of  Napoleon,  who  in  his  day  longed  in  vain  for  the  ships, 
colonies,  and  commerce  which  had  proved  both  bane  and 
blessing  to  Spain  of  the  sixteenth  century.  Spanish  as- 
cendancy had  been  gained  by  unquestionable  superiority  in 
all  the  arts  of  policy  and  war.  The  Swiss  phalanx  and 
French  chivalry  were  no  match  for  the  Spanish  infantry. 
Nevertheless,  more  sombre  and  gloomier  than  his  Escorial 
palace-dungeon  Philip  even  seemed  born  old  and  sad. 

The  support  of  Philip  was  a  vital  factor  in  French  poli- 
tics.    His  wife,  however,  even  though  she  was  a  daughter 

32  Macaulay  (T.  B.),  Essay  on  Lord  Mahon's  History  of  the  War 
of  Succession  in  Spain. 


5371  FRIENDS   AND    FOES    AT    HOME   AND   ABROAD  129 

of  French  royalty,  had  no  influence  over  the  sullen  king.^^ 
On  the  other  hand,  many  French  noblemen  took  up  arms 
against  their  government  because  they  did  not  relish  Cath- 
erine de  Medicis'  unpatriotic  dealing  with  Philip.^*  Her 
racillating  policy  wavered  between  fear  of  Spain  and  anx- 
iety on  account  of  the  Huguenot  insurrection.  Political 
dictates  demanded  that  Philip  prevent  heresy  in  France,  for 
the  latter  lay  like  a  wedge  between  Spain  and  the  Spanish 
domain  of  Burgundy  and  Flanders.  The  monarch  feared 
the  results  of  French  national  councils  and  assemblies  such 
as  that  of  Meaux.  The  latter,  for  example,  had  been  called 
by  Charles  IX  for  three  reasons :  hearing  the  grievances  of 
everyone,  composing  the  religious  troubles  of  the  kingdom, 
and  solacing  the  people  on  account  of  tributes.^^  Such  re- 
sults would  be  the  antithesis  of  the  ends  desired  by  Philip. 
To  forefend  the  proposed  national .  council  he  offered  as 
early  as  September  28,  1560,  to  give  the  French  aid  at  his 
own  expense  in  suppressing  all  rebellion  and  schism.  In 
the  southwest  four  thousand  infantry  were  stationed  near 
Bayonne,  together  with  a  large  body  of  Spanish  cavalry. 
At  Narbonne,  on  the  Barcelona-Perpignan  highway,  five 
miles  from  the  Mediterranean,  two  thousand  more  troops 
were  available.  In  Flanders  3500  infantry  were  at  the  dis- 
posal of  the  French  government.^*^  Ten  weeks  subsequent 
to  this  ofTer  the  frail  Francis  II  succumbed  before  a  com- 
plication of  maladies.  Philip  sent  De  Manrique  ostensibly 
to  congratulate  the  new  young  ruler  Charles  IX,  but  really 
to  win  over  Montmorency,  to  steel  the  French  nation  against 
the  Protestants,  to  deter  any  movement  towards  a  national 
council,  and  to  urge  the  marriage  of  Guise's  niece,  Mary  of 
Scots,  to  the  Spanish  king's  son,  Don  Carlos. 

Chantonnay  concocted  a  scheme  to  put  an  end  to  Cath- 
erine's moderation.  At  his  suggestion  Philip  wrote  a  com- 
mon letter  to  Guise,  Montmorency,  the  duke  of  Montpellier, 

'•  Baschet,  La  Diplomatic  Venetienne,  p.  238. 
'*  Duparcq,  Histoire  de  Henri  II,  p.  107. 
•''  Laplanclie,  vol.  ii,  p.  63. 
"  Great  Britain,  Cal.  St.  P.  Ven.,  No.  199. 

9 


130  FRENCH  protestantism:  1 559-1 562  [538 

the  chancellor,  St.  Andre,  and  Brissac  and  a  joint  note  to 
the  cardinals  Tournon  and  Lorraine.  To  the  constable 
Montmorency  and  St.  Andre,  however,  he  wrote  separate 
letters,  proposing  a  combination  of  reactionary  forces. 
Urged  by  his  Roman  Catholic  wife,  Madeleine  of  Savoy, 
the  constable  formed  on  the  6th  of  April,  1561,  just  four 
months  after  the  accession  of  the  boy  king,  Charles,  a  tri- 
umvirate consisting  of  Navarre,  St.  Andre,  and  Mont- 
morency. Under  this  act  of  Spanish  conception  it  was 
planned  to  keep  France  in  a  deluge  of  blood  until  the  here- 
tics were  wiped  out.  Thus  the  cordon  of  Iberian  influence 
was  tightening  about  France.  Philip's  armada  patrolled 
the  coasts.  On  the  Flemish,  Burgundian,  Bearnese,  and 
Lyonnais  frontiers,  the  kingdom  riven  by  religious  contro- 
versy was  menaced  by  the  Spaniard.  So  domineering  was 
that  power  that  when  a  misunderstanding  arose  between 
England  and  France  concerning  the  city  of  Havre,  Alva 
and  Alava  brazenly  proposed  that  this  second  seaport  of 
France  be  temporarily  entrusted  to  Philip,  who  would  me- 
diate between  the  two  countries.^'^ 

Within  the  borders  of  France  itself  there  were  several 
important  personages  who  were  hostile  to  the  Reform  and 
whose  influence  must  be  considered.  Foremost  was  Cath- 
erine de  Medicis  daughter  of  the  Florentine  ruler  Lorenzo, 
and  born  in  central  Italy  in  15 19.  When  but  fifteen  days 
old  her  mother  died,  and  in  less  than  three  more  weeks  the 
infant  was  left  an  orphan.  At  the  age  of  fourteen  her 
destiny  was  settled  when  she  was  married  to  the  duke  of 
Orleans,  later  Henry  II.  During  the  lifetime  of  her  hus- 
band the  queen  exerted  no  political  influence,  but  on  the 
contrary  was  hated  as  an  Italian. ^^  Henry  was  ever  com- 
pletely under  the  influence  of  Diana  of  Poitiers,  and  the 
short  reign  of  Francis  II  was  dominated  by  his  wife  Mary 
Stuart  and  her  uncles,  the  Guises.  Therefore,  during  these 
two  reigns,  from  1547  to  1560,  Catherine  was  living  a  psLS- 

^'^  L'Ambassade  de  St.  Sulpice,  pp.  137,  151. 
28  Relations  .  .  .  venetiens,  vol.  i,  p.  105. 


5393  FRIENDS   AND    FOES   AT    HOME   AND   ABROAD  131 

sive,  but  observant  life.  In  person  she  possessed  big  eyes 
and  thick  lips,  was  fond  of  good  living  and  ate  irregularly. 
The  Venetian  ambassador  chronicled  that  the  queen  was 
never  still,  and  was  noted  especially  as  a  great  huntress,  yet 
retained  an  olive  complexion  in  spite  of  much  exercise.'" 
At  fifty  she  walked  so  fast  that  no  one  at  court  was  wil- 
ling to  follow.^"  From  the  period  of  the  peace  of  Amboise, 
Catherine  continued  to  fill  her  subjects  with  astonishment. 
Her  industry  in  public  business  was  amazing.  She  even 
followed  the  Catholic  armies,  often  on  foot,  and  revelled  in 
sieges. 

"  The  famous  Roman  temporizer,  Fabius  Cunctator," 
wrote  the  ambassador  of  Venice,  "  would  have  recognized 
his  daughter  in  this  astute  woman  of  Etruria."*^  For  fear 
of  being  sent  back  to  Florence  or  staying  in  France  without 
influence  Catherine  for  a  quarter  of  a  century  played  the 
two  parties  of  religion  against  each  other,  but  her  "bridge 
policy,"  instead  of  uniting  France,  kept  it  divided.  With 
monotonous  recurrence  it  happened  that  the  queen  marred 
or  ruined  the  progress  she  had  made  with  the  aid  of  one 
party's  support  by  her  own  envious  fear  of  that  party's 
predominance.  In  the  life  of  the  "  most  respectable  bad 
woman  on  record  "  there  were  four  determining  elements : 
Guise,  the  Protestants,  Philip,  and  Diana  of  Poitiers.^^ 

The  councilor  Dubourg  was  burned  for  heresy  in  spite  of 
intercession  by  the  Catholic  wife  of  Montmorency,  of  Mar- 
guerite of  Savoy,  and  of  the  Count  Palatine,  two  days  be- 
fore Christmas,  1559.  Directly  afterward  Catherine  saw 
an  opportunity  to  make  headway  against  the  Guises  by  play- 
ing into  the  hands  of  Conde  and  Coligny.  Henry  II  pos- 
sessed neither  the  vivacity  of  spirit,  eloquence,  or  chivalry 
of  Francis  I,  but  was  the  embodiment  of  ostentation,  vio- 
lence, and  selfishness.  Catherine  emulated  him  in  these 
qualities,  to  which  may  be  added  jealousy,  particularly  of 

39  Relations  .  .  .  venetiens,  vol.  i,  p.  409. 
<"  Ibid.,  vol.  ii,  p.  155. 

*^  Baschet,  La  diplomatic  Venetienne,  p.  499. 
*2  Sichel,  p.  4. 


132  FRENCH  protestantism:  1559-1562  [540 

the  Guises.  She  begrudged  their  position  in  a  place  which 
naturally  and  traditionally  was  her  own,  had  the  regencies 
of  Blanche  of  Castile  and  Anne  of  Brittany  been  consid- 
ered as  precedent.^^ 

Tavannes  says  that  Catherine  went  so  far  as  to  instigate 
the  conspiracy  of  Amboise  which  startled  France  about  the 
middle  of  March,  1560.  Were  that  true,  it  was  presumably 
to  check  the  power  of  the  Guise  brothers.  After  the  con- 
spiracy the  queen  arranged  an  interrogation  of  the  Prot- 
estant historian  Laplanche  upon  the  state  of  the  kingdom. 
The  cardinal  Lorraine,  whom  Catherine  cleverly  persuaded 
to  eavesdrop  in  an  adjoining  room,  certainly  could  not  have 
felt  flattered  during  the  interview.^*  The  prompt  action  of 
the  queen  mother  after  the  death  of  Francis  II  on  Decem- 
ber 5,  1560,  turned  the  scales  against  the  cardinal  and  the 
duke.  The  government  of  the  minor,  Charles  IX,  was 
organized  around  Catherine,  with  the  three  Bourbon 
princes,  Navarre,  Conde,  and  the  Cardinal  Bourbon,  and 
the  further  assistance  of  the  Constable  Montmorency,  the 
brothers  Montpensier  and  Roche-sur-Yon  (a  Catholic  duke 
and  a  Protestant  prince),  and  the  three  Chatillons,  Coligny, 
D'Andelot,  and  Cardinal  Odet.  The  Guisard  faction  of 
Aumale,  Marquis  Elboeuf,  the  grand  prior  of  France,  and 
the  cardinals  of  Lorraine  and  Guise  all  left  the  court  at  the 
same  time  without  exhibiting  any  hurt  pride.  The  Parle- 
ment  of  Paris  passed  an  act  in  which  Catherine  declared 
that  the  withdrawal  of  the  Guises  from  court  carried  no 
prejudice  to  their  honor. *^  The  queen  adroitly  avoided  their 
influence  by  arranging  in  the  Privy  Council,  March  27,  1561, 
that  she  and  Navarre  should  rule  jointly.*^  Her  duplicity 
or  anxiety,  as  we  care  to  view  it,  was  immediately  in  evi- 
dence. The  queen  mother's  plan  to  govern  through  the 
Catholic  constable  and  the  Huguenot  admiral,  leaving  Na- 
varre only  nominal  authority,  received  a  shock  on  April  6, 

*3  Thompson,  p.  42. 

**  Laplanche,  vol.  i,  p.  8  (preface). 

*5  Conde,  vol.  iii,  p.  512. 

*^  Relations  .  .  .  venetiens,  vol.  i,  p.  433. 


541 J  FRIENDS   AND    FOES    AT    HOME   AND   ABROAD  1 33 

1561.*^  On  that  date  the  Triumvirate  was  formed.  The 
Protestant  world  was  startled,  for  only  ten  days  before 
Catherine  had  contrived  to  have  Navarre  named  as  co- 
regent. 

The  year  1562  was  marked  by  continued  contradictory 
actions  on  the  part  of  Catherine.  A  Catholic  authority  re- 
corded that  the  queen  on  the  5th  of  February  changed  the 
governors  of  her  sons  from  the  Huguenot  to  Roman  Catho- 
lic. In  the  same  chapter  we  find  that  Catherine's  fear  of 
the  Triumvirate  led  her  to  take  up  an  abode  near  the  Prot- 
estant forces.*^  Yet  on  Friday,  the  loth  of  April,  she  wrote 
to  the  cardinal  Odet  of  Chatillon,  asking  him  to  influence 
his  brother  Louis  of  Conde  to  lay  down  arms.*^  The  ques- 
tion might  be  asked  if  Catherine  sought  to  win  the  favor  of 
the  Reform  because  her  bitter  enemy,  Henry's  favorite 
Diana  of  Poitiers,  hated  them.  From  1547  to  1559,  said 
the  Protestants,  not  a  drop  of  justice  fell  upon  France  ex- 
cept by  stealth,  thanks  to  the  beauty  from  Poitou.  But 
although  Catherine  may  have  resolved  not  to  allow  the  Hu- 
guenots to  be  utterly  crushed  in  order  to  use  them  as  a 
counterpoise  to  Diana,  Philip,  and  the  Guises,  she  was  by 
habit,  if  not  by  conscience,  a  Catholic.  Montluc  was  de- 
lighted to  inform  the  duke  of  Alva  that  "  they  may  saw  the 
queen  in  two  before  she  will  become  a  Huguenot."^" 

By  April  19,  1562,  the  Protestant  uprising  had  so  in- 
creased the  fears  of  Catherine  that  she  completely  sur- 
rendered to  the  Triumvirate  and  resolved  to  appeal  to  Spain 
for  assistance.  At  her  instance  Navarre,  St.  Andre,  and 
Montmorency  formally  solicited  Philip's  military  help.''^ 
Lettenhove  said  that  the  queen  asked  for  10,000  infantry 
and  a  like  number  of  cavalry.^^  Exactly  one  month  later 
the  Spanish  monarch  acceded,  promising  the  full  quota  of 

*''^  Negociations  toscanes,  vol.  iii,  p.  448;  Archives  Nationales,  K. 
1494,  B.  12,  'j'i,  April  7  and  9. 
*8  St.  Croix,  pp.  64,  94. 
*9  Bethune  MSS.,  vol.  8702. 
50  Blackburn,  vol.  ii,  p.  40. 
'^  Archives  Nationales,  K.  1496,  No.  61. 
52  Lettenhove,  p.  80. 


134  FRENCH  protestantism:  1 559-1 562  [542 

foot  soldiers  and  3000  horsemen.  Both  branches  of  the 
service  were  to  be  largely  composed  of  ItaHans  and  Germans. 

Henceforth  Catherine  was  to  be  the  Circe  of  the  Calvin- 
ists.  Like  so  many  of  the  Italians  of  her  century,  who  were 
almost  destitute  of  moral  sense,  she  looked  upon  statesman- 
ship in  particular  as  a  career  in  which  finesse,  lying,  and 
assassination  were  the  most  admirable,  because  the  most 
effective  weapons.  An  attendant  once  said  to  the  queen: 
"I  have  noticed  that  whom  you  hate  you  call  friend,  and 
never  stop  until  you  have  destroyed."^^  On  June  i,  1562, 
fifteen  new  chevaliers  of  the  order  were  elected  in  order  to 
ensure  the  affection  of  a  few  doubtful  nobles  to  the  queen.°* 
Catherine  believed  the  middle  of  the  year  to  be  the  time  to 
degrade  before  the  tribunals  of  ecclesiastical  jurisdiction 
those  nobles  and  clergy  who  were  opposed  to  the  Roman 
faith,  while  the  Council  was  assuredly  Catholic.  She  now 
seemed  convinced  that  Alva  was  correct  when  he  shouted: 
"  Catch  the  big  fishes.  One  salmon  is  worth  10,000  frogs. "^'^ 
The  upper  classes  who  professed  Calvinism  she  desired 
first  to  cajole  and  then  condemn  to  a  judicial  death;  the 
middle  classes  she  aimed  to  drive  from  the  Reform  by  vexa- 
tious interference  and  refusal  of  a  chance  to  worship.  Nev- 
ertheless, even  after  the  battle  of  Dreux  the  Huguenots 
admittedly  throve.  Catherine  was  compelled  to  exclaim, 
"  the  more  fire,  the  more  of  this  novel  faith." 

In  the  course  of  one  year  these  changes  had  occurred  in 
Catherine's  relations  to  the  new  religion :  ( i )  the  Edict  of 
January,  1 562,  had  been  under  her  auspices:  she  now  minded 
it  no  longer;  (2)  the  Reformers  had  been  protected,  but 
she  now  turned  against  them;  (3)  her  best  adviser  and 
finest  support  had  been  among  the  Huguenots :  she  now  dis- 
dained their  advice  and  forgot  their  fidelity ;  (4)  once  Conde 
had  been  besought  to  take  up  arms  in  her  defense :  she  dis- 
avowed him  when  he  took  the  field.^®     The  Talsy  confer- 

53  Blackburn,  vol.  i,  p.  47. 
5*  St.  Croix,  p.  171. 
55  Blackburn,  vol.  ii,  p.  40. 
^«  Delaborde,  p.  55. 


543]  FRIENDS   AND    FOES    AT    HOME   AND   ABROAD  1 35 

ence  between  Catherine,  Conde,  and  Coligny  was  worse  than 
futile. 

The  other  great  hypocritical  friend  of  the  Reform  was 
Antoine  of  Bourbon,  sieur  de  Vendome,  and  king  of  Na- 
varre, the  first  prince  of  the  blood  in  1559.  He  was  tall 
and  vigorous,  generous  to  a  fault,  but  vain  and  undepend- 
able.  When  he  first  renounced  the  mass  all  France  whis- 
pered that  it  was  for  the  purpose  of  becoming  the  head  of 
the  Huguenot  party.  Suriano  relates  that  the  Protestants 
themselves  called  him  a  hypocrite. ^^  His  hobby  was  to 
regain  the  kingdom  of  Navarre.  This  ambition  might  have 
been  achieved  had  Antoine,  the  logical  leader  of  the  party, 
definitely  cast  his  lot  with  the  Protestants,  but  the  pusillani- 
mous prince  not  only  hesitated,  but  allowed  the  Guises  to 
imprison  and  nearly  behead  his  brother  of  Conde,  besides 
losing  the  governorship  of  Guyenne.^^  Dargaud  said  that 
Antoine  was  only  a  prince,  not  a  man.  He  was  sought  by 
both  parties  and  became  much  inflated  with  a  sense  of  his 
own  importance.  He  negotiated  especially  with  Philip  and 
the  Pope  for  the  restoration  of  his  former  kingdom.  Chan- 
tonnay  as  early  as  May  16,  1561,  told  Antoine  that  he  would 
probably  be  rewarded  thus  if  he  would  help  in  keeping 
France  true  to  the  established  religion. ^^  Fifteen  days  pre- 
viously Chantonnay  had  written  his  master  that  he  was 
parleying  with  Vendome  (the  Spaniards  would  never  con- 
sent to  call  Antoine  "Navarre")  for  the  transfer  of  Ma- 
jorca and  some  other  islands  of  the  Mediterranean.*"  Even 
Antoine's  patience  was  being  taxed  so  that  on  the  7tli  of 
December,  1561,  Philip  ofTered  another  proposition  to  the 
prince.*^  Should  Navarre  succeed  in  banishing  from  the 
French  court  every  Huguenot,  and  from  France  all  the 
Protestant  pastors,  along  with  Conde,  the  Chatillons, 
L'Hopital,  and  Montluc,  bishop  of  Valence,  he  would  re- 

^^  Relations  .  .  .  venetiens,  vol.  ii,  p.  47. 

ss  Great  Britain,  Cal.  St.  P.  For.,  No.  716,  Nov.  17,  1560. 

59  Great  Britain,  Cal.  St.  P.  Ven.,  No.  259. 

•'■"'  Archives  Nationales,  K.  1494,  No.  83. 

«iCal.  St.  P.  For.,  No.  116. 


136  FRENCH  protestantism:  1559-1562  ^544 

ceive  as  a  reward  the  "kingdom  of  Tunis."  Geographical 
ideas  of  the  sixteenth  century  were  often  ludicrous.  Mont- 
morency thought  Tunis  an  island !  Antoine  realized  that 
the  Turks  were  still  in  possession,  so  Philip  proposed  that 
"  M.  Vendome  "  exchange  Navarre  for  Tunis  and  Sardinia, 
and  promised  to  conquer  it  for  him.®^  One  condition  was 
that  Jeanne  d'Albret  should  also  relinquish  her  rights  to 
Navarre.  Jeanne  and  Antoine  had  already  quarreled  be- 
cause the  latter  insisted  upon  receiving  instruction  from  a 
Jesuit,  while  she  refused  to  allow  the  future  Henry  IV  to 
be  escorted  to  mass.  To  add  to  the  complications  the  queen 
of  Navarre  abjured  Catholicism  at  Christmas,  1561. 

On  the  5th  of  January,  1562,  Navarre  told  St.  Croix  that 
he  was  being  toyed  with;  that  he  saw  nothing  in  Italy  or 
the  Low  Countries  which  would  give  him  satisfaction.  Na- 
ples or  Milan,  with  absolute  mastership  thereof,  was  his 
latest  demand.  Two  days  later  Chantonnay  assured  St. 
Croix  that  Philip  was  nearly  ready  to  turn  over  Sardinia, 
except  the  fortified  ports,  to  Navarre.^^  Antoine,  enraged 
at  the  thought  of  what  he  would  do  with  the  interior  of  the 
large  island,  wreaked  his  vengeance  upon  the  Huguenots. 
In  July,  five  months  after  the  massacre  of  Vassy,  numbers 
of  persons  of  all  ages  were  drowned  at  night  with  stones 
about  their  necks  at  Tours,  Amboise,  Blois,  and  those  towns 
which  capitulated  to  the  king  of  Navarre.®*  The  reckoning 
came  on  October  26,  1562,  when  he  died  from  a  wound 
sustained  at  the  siege  of  Rouen.  He  was  a  "trimmer"  to 
the  end,  on  his  deathbed  professing  the  confession  of  Augs- 
burg, a  doctrine  intermediate  between  Catholicism  and 
Calvinism.®^ 

62  Bordenave,  Histoire  de  Beam  et  de  Navarre.    Paris,  1873,  P-  lo*- 

6^  St.  Croix,  p.  14. 

6*  Thompson,  p.  154. 

65  Despatches  of  Michele  Suriano  and  Marc  Antonio  Barbaro, 
1560-1563.  (Ed.  Sir  Henry  Layard,  London,  1891),  November' 25, 
1562. 


CHAPTER   VI 

Guise  or  Valois  ? 

From  1550  the  house  of  Guise  directed  and  almost  produced 
events  in  France.  Its  leaders  were  the  brilliant  and  terrible 
meteors  of  the  sixteenth  century.  The  expansion  of  this 
alien  house  became  so  great  that  the  whole  misfortunes  of 
France  were  attributed  to  it,  and  among  the  families  of 
Europe  it  rose  to  an  eminence  unrivalled.  In  the  fourteenth 
century  the  countship  of  Guise,  a  fief  under  the  French 
crown,  had  been  carried  by  marriage  to  Rodolph,  duke  of 
Lorraine.  In  1508  Rene  II,  the  conqueror  of  Charles  the 
Bold,  divided  his  territories  between  his  sons,  Antony,  who 
became  duke  of  Lorraine  as  holder  of  the  Germanic  por- 
tion, and  Claude,  who  had  the  French  fief  including  Guise. 
Claude  of  Lorraine  thus  became  the  founder  of  a  great 
family  in  which  there  appeared  repeatedly  a  cardinal  and  a 
duke  side  by  side.  It  was  the  second  duke  and  cardinal 
who  threw  themselves  into  the  Catholic  reaction  and  became 
the  leaders  of  the  resistance  to  the  Reform  in  France. 
Until  the  day  of  Richelieu  the  Guises  stood  between  the 
nobility  and  the  king,  fortified  by  an  imposing  array  of  lord- 
ships bequeathed  to  them  by  Claude  of  Lorraine;  Guise, 
Aumale,  Elboeuf,  Joinville,  Harcourt,  Mayenne,  Long- 
jumcau,  Lanbesc,  Boves,  Sable.  Alliances  with  the  houses 
of  Nevers,  Joyeuse,  Ventadour,  Sully,  Mercoeur,  and  Aiguil- 
lon  further  strengthened  the  position  of  family.  The  car- 
dinalate  of  Lorraine,  the  archbishopric  of  Rheims,  the 
bishopric  of  Metz,  and  various  minor  ecclesiastical  positions 
belonged  also  to  the  Guises,  whose  power  was  well  repre- 
sented in  the  arms  of  Claude  of  Lorraine,  who  as  a  foreign 
prince  and  at  the  same  time  a  peer  of  France,  carried  the 
German-Lorraine  double  eagle  and  the  quarterings  of  eight 

137 


138  FRENCH    protestantism:    I559-I562  [546 

sovereign  houses,  including  the  kings  of  Jerusalem,  Hungary, 
Naples,  and  Aragon,  and  of  the  lords  of  Flanders,  Bar, 
Anjou,  and  Guelderland.  In  1527  this  Claude  was  created 
duke  of  Guise,  and  gathered  to  himself  riches  by  all  means, 
fair  or  foul.  His  brother  John,  first  cardinal  Lorraine,  also 
was  so  grasping  that  in  consequence  the  reputation  of  the 
whole  Lorraine  country  suffered  for  centuries.  Francis,  the 
eldest  of  the  six  children  of  Claude  who  attained  their 
majority,  was  born  in  15 19.  Charles,  born  in  1524,  became 
the  second  cardinal.  The  younger  brothers  included  Claude, 
duke  of  Aumale,  Louis,  cardinal  of  Guise  and  archbishop  of 
Sens,  and  Rene,  marquis  of  Elboeuf. 

Claude  of  Guise  died  in  1550,  and  was  succeeded  by 
Francis,  the  "  grand  Guise,"  with  whom  we  have  to  deal. 
•He  was  liberal,  chivalrous,  humane.  A  fearful  face  scar, 
received  at  Boulogne  in  1545  while  defending  his  country, 
was  the  outward  symbol  of  his  devotion  to  France,  and 
heightened  his  popularity  with  the  lower  classes.  His  re- 
nown reached  its  height  after  he  had  repelled  Charles  V  at 
Metz  in  1552  and  wrested  Calais  finally  from  the  English 
in  1557.  With  his  brother  Charles,  the  duke  of  Guise  was 
practically  co-regent  during  the  reign  of  Francis  II.  If 
Francis  of  Guise  was  "  le  grand  Guise,"  the  cardinal  Charles 
of  Lorraine  was  the  ablest,  and  in  1559  was  in  his  early 
prime.  He  had  a  fine  face,  a  striking  figure,  and  was  gifted 
with  rare  eloquence  and  an  astonishing  memory.^  His 
ability  as  a  linguist  was  only  exceeded  by  his  great  insight 
and  intuition,  but  he  was  avaricious,  licentious,  vindictive, 
envious,  quick  to  anger.  As  we  shall  have  occasion  to  see,  the 
cardinal's  duplicity  was  so  great  that  he  seemed  never  to  tell 
the  truth.  "  Le  cardinal  Lorraine  est  plus  habile  que  per- 
sonne  dans  I'art  de  dissimuler."  As  between  the  two 
brothers  Balzac's  opinion  that  "  the  passion  of  the  French 
for  this  man  [Francis  of  Guise]  was  almost  idolatrous  "^  is 
not  confirmed  by  the  facts,  while  the  most  biased  writer  has 

1  Relations  .  .  .  venetiens,  vol.  i,  pp.  435,  437. 
-  Buet,  p.  10. 


547]  GUISE   OR   VALOIS?  I39 

never  been  so  rash  as  to  give  a  similar  estimate  of  Charles, 
Cardinal  Lorraine. 

The  machinations  of  the  Guises  are  an  integral  part  of  the 
rise  of  French  Protestantism,  1559  to  1562,  and  are  naturally 
considered  under  three  aspects,  political,  religious,  and 
financial.  Their  political  position  was  due  in  part  to  the 
accidents  of  nature,  for  during  the  estates  of  Orleans,  the 
Marquis  de  Beaupreau,  practically  the  last  prince  of  the 
blood,  died  after  a  fall  from  his  charger.  Eighty  years  be- 
fore, the  princes  of  blood  were  numerous,  but  of  the  old 
titles  in  1559  only  Bourbon  names  remained  (Vendome. 
Montpensier,  and  Roche-sur-Yon).  The  new  names  were 
practically  limited  to  the  prince  of  Conde  and  his  children. 
If  women  might  have  occupied  the  French  throne,  the 
daugther  of  Louis  XII,  the  duchess  of  Ferrara,  would  have 
been  more  nearly  in  line  than  Francis.^  Urging  the  Salic 
law,  Francis  of  Guise  in  1559  obtained  control  of  war 
affairs,  while  his  brother  the  Cardinal  assumed  the  manage- 
ment of  finances  and  state  politics.  When  Henry  II  passed 
away  the  Guises  immediately  seized  the  person  of  the  heir 
apparent,  the  frail  Francis  II.*  As  guardians  they  held  the 
young  king  in  their  control  and  virtually  a  prisoner  from  the 
age  of  seventeen  to  the  day  of  his  death.  They  said  they 
would  see  the  kingdom  in  ashes  rather  than  leave  the  king. 
The  young  monarch  was  forced  to  utter  the  following  on 
December  15,  1559:  "We  know  of  no  better  selection  than 
our  much  esteemed  and  beloved  uncle,  Francis  of  Lorraine, 
on  account  of  the  perfect  and  entire  confidence  we  have  in 
him,  to  entrust  the  credit  and  authority  of  such  affairs."^ 
As  Francis  neared  his  majority  the  Guises  were  glad,  for  now 
they  could  manage  him  without  a  council.  This  was  in  spite 
of  the  law  of  the  land,  for  at  Tours  in  1484  it  was  deter- 
mined that  in  case  of  a  minor  king  the  three  estates  should 
meet  and  elect  a  council.     This  was  to  contain  princes  of 

3  Suriano,  p.  364. 
*  Castelnau,  p.  68. 
5  Conde,  vol.  ii,  p.  342. 


140  FRENCH  protestantism:  1 559-1 562  [548 

the  blood  and  no  foreigners."  Now  the  Guises  made  it 
treason  to  the  king  to  speak  of  the  estates,  for  they  well 
saw  that  the  demand  for  the  States-General  was  the  voice  of 
France  against  Guise.  The  nobility  were  to  be  considered 
traitors  for  approaching  thus  near  to  the  king  of  France. 

Men  were  at  work  tracing  the  genealogy  of  Guise  back 
to  Charlemagne.^  Futile  as  the  attempt  was,  there  is  little 
doubt  that  the  brothers  intended  to  seize  any  opportunity  to 
supplant  the  weak  Francis  II,  the  second  from  last  of  the 
house  of  Valois,  with  a  revival  of  the  "Angevin  dynasty." 
Henry  II  had  addressed  an  injunction  to  all  his  provinces  to 
obey  the  commands  of  the  Guises  as  if  they  came  from 
him.*  When  Queen  Catherine  interceded  in  favor  of  the 
condemned  Baron  Castelnau,  she  had  to  interview  "ces 
nouveaux  rois,"  the  Guises.  Lorraine  was  called  the  "  Car- 
dinal of  Anjou "  while  he  was  in  Rome,"  but  Henry  II 
obliged  him  to  release  him  from  a  promise  that  he  would 
bestow  the  title  Anjou  on  him  when  he  was  king.  After  the 
battle  of  Jarnac,  the  duke  of  Guise  erected  a  shaft  inscribed 
"Erected  by  a  great  French  prince."  In  spite  of  his 
lawyers  the  duke  inserted  "Anjou"  in  his  marriage  con- 
tract.^°  In  Dauphiny  he  signed  merely  "  Francis "  like  a 
king,  and  used  royal  seals  of  gold.  In  Parlement  he  alone 
of  the  nobles  wore  a  sword.  The  younger  brothers  also 
were  permeated  with  the  consuming  ambition.  Aumale, 
upon  the  occasion  of  his  marriage  at  Ferrara,  signed  as  the 
"  due  d'Anjou."^! 

The  unscrupulous  policy  of  the  Guises  is  illustrated  in 
their  machinations  against  royalty.  Prince  Louis  of  Conde, 
of  the  house  of  Bourbon,  stood  near  the  throne  in  case  a 
prince  of  the  blood  should  be  chosen  to  reign  in  the  place 
of  the  weakling  children  of  Henry  II   and  Catherine  de 

^  Laplanche,  vol.  i,  p.  40. 
''  Conde,  vol.  i,  p.  406. 
8  Laplanche,  vol.  i,  p.  412. 
i'lbid.,  vol.  i,  p.  158. 

10  Bersier,  p.  26. 

11  De  Thou,  Histoire  universelle.  16  vols.,  London,  1734;  vol.  i, 
p.  164. 


549D  GUISE  OR  VALOIS?  I4I 

Medicis.  Conde,  gay,  gallant,  laughter-loving,  lively,  way- 
ward, still  was  chivalrously  honorable  and  had  genuine  and 
strong  religious  convictions.^-  Though  he  was  very  poor, 
bribes  of  every  kind  were  spurned.  Since  he  would  not 
countenance  or  support  the  ambition  of  the  Guises,  this  rival 
must  be  eliminated.  As  the  prince  of  Conde  with  his 
brother,  Antoine  of  Navarre,  on  October  30,  1560,  rode  into 
Orleans  where  the  States-General  were  to  convene,  he  was 
arrested  and  imprisoned,  upon  the  charge  of  implication  in 
the  Amboise  conspiracy  and  the  insurrection  at  Lyons.^^ 
Only  two  persons  were  sufficiently  powerful  and  concerned 
to  invesigate  this  audacious  seizure  of  so  eminent  a  noble. 
It  was  to  the  regent  Catherine's  interest  to  avoid  strong 
measures  and  to  play  the  Catholic  Guise  against  the  Hugue- 
not Conde,  hence  all  signs  point  to  the  cardinal  Lorraine 
as  the  author  of  this  move.  To  be  sure,  as  late  as  March, 
1562,  Guise  was  denying  that  he  was  responsible  for  Conde's 
imprisonment,^*  and  tried  to  avert  public  scrutiny  of  his 
motives  by  a  voluntary  statement  of  the  object  of  the  Am- 
boise conspiracy.  It  was  intended,  he  said,  for  the  death  of 
both  sovereigns,  the  king's  brother  and  all  the  princes,  and 
the  foundation  of  a  republic."^  History  records  that  several 
times  did  the  Guises  lay  themselves  open  to  suspicion  on  the 
first  of  those  very  charges.  Davila  chronicles  one.  The 
frail  king  Francis  eventually  succumbed  to  a  malady  of  the 
ear  and  head.  One  day  in  1560  the  monarch  suffered  a 
fainting  fit  while  in  the  barber's  chair. ^^  The  ugly  rumor 
reached  every  province  that  the  Guises  had  caused  the 
barber  to  put  poison  in  the  king's  ear.  The  Pope  and  Philip 
of  Spain  were  both  advised  that  the  heretic  Conde  would 
soon  be  executed.  The  prince  was  saved  only  because  the 
Guises  were  trying  to  draw  both  Navarre  and  the  constable 
Montmorency  into  the  same  plot.  Fair  trial  with  the  exist- 
ing venality  of  justice  would  have  been  the  exception.     The 

12  Hanna,  p.  24. 

1'  Negociations  toscanes,  vol.  iii,  p.  425. 

1*  Conde,  vol.  iii,  p.  156. 

18  Venice  was  about  the  only  republic  well  known  to  France. 

i«  Davila,  p.  64. 


142  FRENCH    protestantism:    I559-I562  [55O 

death  of  Francis  II  on  December  5,  1560,  thwarted  the 
efforts  of  Guise  to  have  the  great  Conde  executed  or  kept 
in  perpetual  confinement. 

Another  instance  of  flagrant  tampering  with  royalty  is  re- 
corded by  the  ultra-Catholic  ambassador  Chantonnay, 
Philip's  minister  at  the  court  of  France,  in  a  letter  of  No- 
vember 9,  1 561.  The  young  king  Charles  IX  had  left  his 
room  after  an  illness.  The  duke  of  Orleans,  his  brother, 
was  in  the  king's  room  and  met  the  duke  of  Nemours,  a 
relation  of  the  Guises.  To  the  question  whether  he  was 
Papist  or  Huguenot,  young  Orleans  answered  that  he  was  of 
the  religion  of  his  mother,  the  queen.  Nemours  asked  "  s'il 
ne  luy  plaisoit  pas  qu'il  luy  dis  25  paroles,"  then  took  him 
aside  near  the  door  of  the  king's  cabinet  and  said :  "  Sir,  I 
see  that  the  kingdom  of  France  is  lost  and  ruined  by  these 
Huguenots,  and  the  King  and  yourself  are  not  secure,  be- 
cause the  King  of  Navarre  and  Conde  wish  to  become  king, 
and  will  cause  both  you  and  the  King  to  die:  thus,  Sir, 
if  you  wish  to  avoid  this  danger,  you  must  guard  and  if 
you  wish,  M.  Guise  and  I  will  aid  and  succor  you,  and  send 
you  into  Lorraine  or  Savoy. "^'^  Orleans  replied  that  he 
did  not  wish  to  leave  his  mother  and  the  king.  Nemours : 
"  Think  well  of  what  I  tell  you,  it  is  to  your  profit."  The 
duke  did  not  reply.  Nemours :  "  You  do  not  trust  in  Car- 
navallet  and  Villequier?"  "Yes."  "Do  not  tell  them  of 
what  I  have  told  you  and  what  we  have  been  talking  about 
thus  at  length.  If  they  ask  you,  say  we  were  speaking  of 
comedies,"  said  Nemours,  and  left  him.  At  this  juncture, 
the  duke  of  Guise,  who  had  been  standing  before  the  fire 
talking  to  his  son  the  Prince  of  Joinville,  approached  Orleans 
and  said,  "  Sir,  I  have  heard  that  the  Queen  wished  to  send 
you  and  the  duke  of  Anjou  (Henry  Ill's  fourth  son)  into 
Lorraine,  in  quite  a  splendid  castle,  for  a  vacation :  if  you 
wish  to  go,  we  will  make  you  much  at  home."  Orleans : 
"  I  do  not  think  the  Queen  my  mother  wants  me  to  abandon 
the  King."     Joinville :  "  If  you  wish  to  come  to  Lorraine 

^'^  Conde,  vol.  iii,  p.  375. 


551 3  GUISE   OR  VALOIS?  I43 

and  enjoy  what  M.  de  Nemours  has  told  you  of,  he  can  fix 
it  all  right."  The  next  day  Joinville  came  to  Orleans, 
speaking  in  the  same  strain,  saying  that  if  he  wished  to 
know  the  means  of  accomplishing  the  departure  he  would 
tell  him.  The  young  duke  would  like  very  much  to  know. 
Joinville :  "  You  will  be  taken  away  at  midnight,  after  being 
lowered  from  a  window  opening  on  the  Pont  de  Pare :  after- 
wards you  will  enter  a  coach,  and  will  be  in  Lorraine  before 
any  one  finds  it  out."  Orleans  did  not  answer,  and  left  the 
prince.  The  following  day  Nemours  was  to  leave  and  at  his 
departure  whispered  to  Orleans :  "  Remember  what  I  have 
told  you  and  tell  no  one."  Only  an  accident  frustrated  this 
plot  of  the  Guises  and  Nemours  to  spirit  the  dukes  of 
Orleans  and  Anjou  into  Lorraine,  their  stronghold. 

"  La  tyrannic  guisienne  "  was  no  fiction.  The  brothers 
built  up  a  system  of  government  wholly  their  own,  espe- 
cially in  the  provinces.  Dependent  upon  Guise's  lieuten- 
ants were  about  six  thousand  who  had  been  raised  to  vari- 
ous positions  in  the  government  of  the  provinces. ^^  In  i559 
there  were  almost  as  many  to  whom  tyranny  seemed  profita- 
ble as  those  to  whom  liberty  seemed  agreeable.  The  gov- 
ernment of  the  provinces  and  frontier  towns  was  changed, 
and  Guisards  were  installed.  The  frontiers  of  Champagne, 
Picardy,  Brittany,  Poitou,  Gascony,  and  Dauphiny  espe- 
cially were  furnished  with  adherents  of  Guise.  All  gen- 
erals, governors  and  towns  were  ordered  to  obey  Guise  as 
the  king  himself.  Not  content  with  their  foreign  and 
French  fiefs,  the  Guises  set  about  increasing  their  holdings. 
Claiming  to  be  descendants  of  Charlemagne,  they  wrested 
two  of  Henry  IPs  chief  provinces,  Provence  and  Anjou. 
besides  the  duchy  of  Bar,  which  domain  Lorraine  asserted 
had  been  taken  away  originally  only  by  force.  The  Guises 
threw  a  sop  to  the  princes  by  advising  the  king  to  create 
two  new  governments  in  the  center  of  France.  To  Mont- 
pensier  was  given  the  government  of  the  province  of  Tou- 
raine,  the  duchies  of  Vendome  and  Anjou,  and  the  coun- 

1'  La  Boetie,  Discours  de  la  servitude  volontaire,  p.  85. 


144  FRENCH  protestantism:  1 559-1 562  [552 

ties  of  Blois,  Maine  and  Dunois.^^  His  brother,  the  prince 
de  la  Roche-sur-Yon,  received  the  government  of  Orleans, 
the  duchy  of  Berry,  the  "  pays  "  Chartrain,  the  Beauce,  and 
Montargis.  We  are  not  surprised  to  find,  however,  that 
the  new  offices  were  subject  to  provincial  lieutenants  under 
Guise,  Sipierre  in  Orleannais  and  Savigny  in  Touraine.  To 
balance  these  allotments  the  constable  Montmorency  was 
deprived  of  the  government  of  Languedoc. 

Italy  was  the  scene  of  the  majority  of  the  foreign  machi- 
nations of  the  Cardinal  Lorraine  and  his  brothers.  At 
Rome  the  Guises  played  with  sustained  credit,  possibly  be- 
cause Italians  held  one-third  of  the  benefices  in  France  and 
infinite  pensions,-"  At  first  the  cardinal  had  requested 
Henry  II  to  use  his  influence  to  secure  the  tiara  for  his 
uncle,  John,  later  Paul  IV.  This  Giovanni  Pietro  Caraflfa 
had  been  head  of  the  reactionary  party  at  Rome,  bent  on 
crushing  all  tendencies  to  religious  innovation.  After  tak- 
ing part  in  two  important  conclaves,  Carafifa  was  unexpect- 
edly elected  pope  on  May  23,  1555,  after  the  death  of  Mar- 
cellus  II.  The  cardinal  Lorraine  seems  to  have  been  instru- 
mental in  raising  Paul  IV  to  the  pontifical  throne,  notwith- 
standing his  personal  unpopularity  and  the  positive  veto  of 
Charles  V.  Caraffa  rewarded  Lorraine  by  openly  espous- 
ing the  cause  of  France  as  against  Spain  and  Catholic  Ger- 
many. His  death  in  1559  so  crystallized  the  detestation  of 
the  Roman  people,  that  the  hawkers  of  earthenware  and 
glass  were  compelled  for  a  time  to  discontinue  their  usual 
cry  of  "carafe"  and  substitute  "ampolle."  Immediately 
the  Guises,  always  fishers  in  troubled  waters,  brought  to 
bear  all  their  resources.  The  cardinal  aspired  to  the  throne 
of  St.  Peter  ;-^  for  his  brother  Francis  of  Guise  he  sought 
the  throne  of  Naples.^^  Against  Pius  IV,  the  pope  suc- 
ceeding Paul  IV,  the  cardinal  warred  for  four  years,  and 

18  Oeuvres  completes  de  Brantome.  Lalanne,  11  vols,  Paris,  1864- 
87;  vol.  iii,  p.  278. 

20  Laplanche,  vol.  i,  p.  331. 

21  Baschet,  La  diplomatie  Venetienne,  p.  497. 

22  Tavannes,  vol.  ii,  p.  185. 


553]  GUISE   OR   VALOIS?  I45 

declared  the  French  king  the  protector  of  the  duke  of  Parma 
(the  second  of  the  Farnese  Hne,  Ottavio)  and  the  house  of 
Farnese,  whom  the  pope  had  anathematized.  Now,  at  the 
height  of  their  power  in  France,  the  Guises  longed  also  for 
the  Papacy  and  the  Kingdom  of  Naples  and  Sicily. 

Through  the  jealousies  of  the  Montmorencies,  Francis  of 
Guise  had  been  sent  in  1557  to  assume  charge  of  military 
operations  in  Italy.  His  recall,  necessitated  by  the  events 
leading  up  to  his  laudable  coup  at  St.  Quentin,  prevented 
one  more  addition  to  the  long  list  of  military  reputations 
ruined  in  Italy.  But  the  sojourn  was  the  foundation  for 
his  future  enterprises  at  Rome.  One  of  these  was  the  con- 
templated alliance  of  a  brother  of  the  duke  with  Ferrara's 
daughter.  Two  expeditions  instigated  by  the  cardinal  in- 
volved losses  to  French  prestige  in  Italy.  In  one  of  these 
the  papacy  was  the  prize.  The  other  goal  was  the  kingdom 
of  Naples  (and  Sicily),  which  rich  territorial  prize  covered 
the  entire  south  of  the  Italian  peninsula,  just  as  in  the  day 
of  Napoleon.  To  further  his  aims,  Francis  of  Guise  made 
capital  of  the  inveterate  hatred  of  the  Neapolitans  for  the 
Spanish  rule.  Prior  to  1559  the  Guises  had  not  cultivated 
the  deference  to  Philip  II  which  is  so  conspicuous  after  the 
outbreak  of  the  wars  of  religion. 

The  sudden  change  in  Guise's  attitude  toward  Spain,  in 
the  epoch-making  year  of  1559,  is  partially  explained  by 
the  close  alliance  of  Cardinal  Lorraine  and  Granvella,  the 
Spanish  ambassador  to  the  Low  Countries.  In  the  same 
year,  as  will  be  shown,  the  attitude  of  France  became  anti- 
Protestant  instead  of  anti-Spanish.  One  of  the  most  astute 
diplomats  of  all  time,  Chantonnay,  the  Spanish  ambassador 
at  the  French  court,  was  an  overshadowing  factor  in  this 
result.  On  February  4,  1560,  Guise  wrote  Philip:  "I  will 
obey,  Sire,  any  good  and  praiseworthy  advice  it  will  please 
you  to  give  me."-^  On  January  31,  1561,  Lorraine  assured 
the  Spanish  monarch  of  his  loyalty.-*     On  April  21,  1562, 


2*  Capefigue,  Histoire  de  la  Reforme,  vol.  ii,  p.  92. 
2*  Archives  Nationales,  K.  1494,  No.  35,  Bibl.  Nat. 
10 


146  FRENCH    protestantism:    I559-I562  [554 

an  assuring  note  was  handed  Philip  from  the  new  Trium- 
virate, which  was  a  reahty  as  soon  as  Marshal  Montmorency 
determined  to  join  Marshal  St.  Andre  and  Guise  in  their 
ambitious  program.^^  Another  ill-omen  for  France  lay  in 
the  coincidence  that  the  colors  of  Spain  and  Guise  were 
identical,  red  and  yellow.  The  accord  of  the  Triumvirate 
provided  for  (i)  Philip  II  to  be  the  head;  (2)  Navarre  to 
cooperate;  (3)  Emperor  and  Roman  Catholic  princes  of 
Germany  to  blockade  France  during  the  war;  (4)  Roman 
Catholic  cantons  to  prevent  the  other  cantons  from  assist- 
^^Sl  (5)  Ferrara  to  be  head  of  the  Italian  troops  ;  (6)  Savoy 
to  attack  Geneva  and  murder  every  one;  (7)  German 
Lutherans  to  be  massacred.^''  In  answer  to  Conde,  the  Tri- 
umvirate on  May  4,  1562,  presented  a  request  to  Charles 
IX,  asking  him  to  proclaim  that  he  does  not  wish  diversity 
of  religion  and  that  all  officers  shall  observe  the  same  reli- 
gion.^^  It  may  be  added  that  it  would  probably  be  impos- 
sible to  find  any  Huguenot  leader  who  ever  thought  of  sub- 
ordinating the  government  of  France  to  a  foreign  ruler  for 
the  maintenance  of  the  faith  he  believed  in,  as  did  Guise, 
St.  Andre,  and  Montmorency. 

Scotland  was  aspired  to  by  the  house  of  Guise  through 
enterprises  in  favor  of  Mary  Stuart.  They  had  a  lien  on 
that  country  on  account  of  the  two  Marys.  Mary  I  of 
England  had  married  Philip  II  and  restored  the  Catholic 
faith,  while  Mary  queen  of  Scots  was  the  daughter  of  Mary 
of  Lorraine  and  James  V  of  Scotland.  At  the  age  of  six 
she  was  betrothed  to  the  dauphin  Francis  and  started  for 
France.  Imperial  Rome  at  its  darkest  could  not  have  over- 
shadowed the  society  in  which  the  child  was  reared.  De- 
bauchery of  all  kinds  and  murder  in  all  forms  were  the 
daily  matter  of  jest  to  the  circle  of  satellites  around  Cath- 
erine de  Medicis.  After  ten  years'  tutelage  by  the  woman 
whose  chief  instrument  of  policy  was  the  corruption  of  her 
own  children,  Mary  was  married  to  the  dauphin  on  April 

25  Archives  Nat'ionales,  K.  1496,  No.  64. 

26  Conde,  Jan.  31,  1562. 

27  Ibid.,  vol.  iii,  p.  419. 


555]  GUISE   OR  VALOIS?  1 47 

25,  1558.  To  serve  Guise  they  were  married  long  before 
marriageable  age,  Francis  attaining  to  fifteen  years  and 
three  months  and  Mary  one  month  older.  "  By  a  singular 
combination  of  events  and  lineages  Mary  Stuart  was  neces- 
sarily almost  the  cornerstone  of  the  universal  monarchy 
Philip  II  dreamed  of  forming  in  Europe,  her  possession  of 
the  Scottish  crown,  her  claim  to  England,  her  relationship 
with  the  Guises,  united  with  the  religion  she  professed, 
made  the  furtherance  of  her  power  the  most  practicable 
means  to  that  end."^^  Louis  of  Conde  was  the  power  who 
thwarted  Guise's  plan  to  make  Francis  II,  "  King  of  France, 
Scotland,  Ireland  and  England."-^  The  Guises  plucked 
courage  from  the  fact  that  under  the  pretext  of  preparing 
for  a  Scotch  war  in  favor  of  Mary  Stuart,  they  could  fill 
France  with  soldiers,  to  meet  any  French,  German,  or  Swiss 
Protestant  contingency.^"  Their  agents  had  been  at  work 
among  the  mercenary  princes  of  Germany  for  months, 
20,000  men  being  engaged  by  the  middle  of  1560. 

The  leading  Protestant  princes  of  Germany  were  concen- 
trated upon  by  the  Guises  in  an  efifort  to  inject  into  the 
minds  of  the  Germans  an  unmerited  confidence  in  them- 
selves and  a  suspicion  and  dislike  of  tlie  Huguenots.^^  Ger- 
man Protestants  had  been  tricked  into  France  to  fight  their 
fellow  Protestants.  The  Count  Palatine  and  the  Land- 
grave of  Thuringia  were  Calvinists.  The  other  leaders. 
Augustus,  elector  of  Saxony ;  Joachim,  margrave  of  Bran- 
denburg ;  John  Frederick,  duke  of  Saxony ;  Wolfgang  Wil- 
liam, duke  of  Zweibriicken ;  Joachim  Ernest,  prince  of  x^n- 
halt ;  Charles,  margrave  of  Baden ;  William,  landgrave  of 
Hesse;  and  Christopher,  duke  of  Wlirtemberg,  were  all 
Lutherans.^-  Their  participation  in  the  wars  of  religion 
will  appear  in  another  chapter,  as  will  the  conference  of 
Francis  of  Guise  with  the  duke  of  Wiirtemberg,  at  Saverne, 

28  Thompson,  p.  244. 

29  Aumale,  Histoire  des  Princes  de  Conde,  vol.  i,  p.  51. 

30  Archives  Nationales,  K.  1495,  No.  2,  July  11,  1560. 

31  Letter  of  Fr.  Hotman,  Dec.  31,  1560. 
"2  Conde,  vol.  iv,  pp.  1-38. 


148  FRENCH    protestantism:    I559-I562  [556 

February  15,  1562.  Francis  went  so  far  as  to  emphasize 
that  he  was  essentially  a  Lutheran.  To  this  perjury  was 
added  the  promise  not  to  molest  the  Huguenots  any  more. 
The  original  plan  of  Philip,  Chantonnay,  and  Guise  called 
for  such  a  distortion  of  the  facts  that  the  audiences  with  the 
Protestant  princes  of  Germany  might  even  result  in  the 
enlistment  of  Lutheran  forces  against  the  French  Calvin- 
ists.  The  Saverne  meeting  was  simply  an  expedient  to 
"endormir  les  Protestants."^^  Christopher  of  Wiirtem- 
berg  was  soon  undeceived.  The  duke  of  Guise  immediately 
crossed  the  French  frontier  into  Lorraine  and  on  to  one  of 
his  estates  at  Joinville,  in  Champagne.  On  March  i,  ten 
days  after  the  Saverne  conference,  the  duke's  retinue  passed 
through  the  village  of  Vassy.  In  perfect  accordance  with 
the  Edict  of  Toleration  of  January  17,  1562,  a  Huguenot 
congregation  was  at  worship  in  a  barn  outside  the  village. 
History  will  probably  never  obtain  a  true  account  of  what 
followed,  but  an  epoch  was  marked  when  the  duke's  follow- 
ers butchered  the  defenseless  people.  The  January  Edict 
had  been  made  in  the  absence  of  the  Guises  and  against 
their  wish.  Vassy  was  the  result.  Guise  had  said :  "  This 
sword  shall  cut  the  bond  of  that  edict,  though  never  so 
strait."^*  The  historian  Ranke  tersely  remarks  that 
"whether  the  duke  intended  the  massacre  or  not,  it  is 
enough  that  he  did  not  prevent  it."^^  Vassy  was  the  imme- 
diate cause  of  the  disastrous  and  paralyzing  wars  of  reli- 
gion. Agents  of  Guise  circulated  printed  apologies  for 
Vassy,  though  one  of  the  duke's  train  boasted  having 
brought  down  six  of  the  pigeons  who  tried  to  escape  over 
the  roofs  I^*'  Even  by  May,  1562,  Guise  had  not  been  ab- 
solved by  the  Guisard  Court  of  Parlement  or  by  the  peers 
of  France  for  this  atrocious  deed. 

The  kingdoms  of  Denmark  and  Sweden  had  been  at  war 
for  seven  years.     The  German  princes  were  fearful  lest  the 

33  Varillas,  Histoire  de  Charles  IX.    2  vols.,  Paris,  1683 ;  vol.  i, 
P-  153- 

34  Davila,  p.  97. 

35  Ranke,  L.,  Civil  Wars  and  Monarchy  in  France.    2  vols.,  p.  211. 

36  Popeliniere,  vol.  i,  p.  327 ;  Hanna,  p.  33. 


55711  GUISE   OR   VALOIS?  I49 

Guises  should  use  this  favorable  opportunity  to  move  into 
Denmark  and  put  their  relative,  the  Duke  of  Lorraine 
(brother-in-law  of  Christian  II,  exiled  King  of  Denmark), 
on  the  throne.^^  Denmark  wanted  a  French  Protestant 
prince  to  marry  the  Danish  king's  sister,  and  offered  an 
alliance  between  the  sovereign  and  the  widowed  Mary 
Stuart.  Naturally  this  pro-Protestant  proposal  was  frus- 
trated by  Philip  and  the  henchmen  of  the  Guise  party. 

The  foreign  political  intrigues  of  Guise,  to  be  considered 
under  separate  titles,  cover  an  amazing  range.  In  addition 
to  the  countries  referred  to  the  plans  of  the  ambitious 
family  included  Switzerland,  Flanders,  Holland,  the  Three 
Bishoprics,  Savoy,  Venice,  Barbary,  Turkey,  and  even 
Greece  and  Albania.  It  seemed  as  if  each  month  saw  the 
heart  of  some  foreign  prince  alienated  from  the  French 
king  and  his  country  through  the  schemes  of  the  Guises. 
The  Venetian  ambassador  wrote  home :  "  II  n'y  avait  rien 
que  en  ne  branlait  et  tremblait  sous  le  nom  de  Guise."^® 

Naturally,  the  subservience  of  the  parliaments  of  Paris 
and  the  provinces  was  essential  to  these  political  plans. 
Most  of  the  sacred  laws  of  France  were  trampled  upon. 
Ordinances  and  edicts  were  changed.  Legislation  and  jus- 
tice were  degraded,  and  one  has  but  to  open  the  records  of 
1559  to  1562  to  discover  how  the  Guises  repeatedly  upset 
decisions  of  the  courts  of  Parlement  to  obtain  favorable 
judgments.  If  it  is  too  much  to  say,  with  Beza,  that  Guise 
was  "meurtrier  du  genre  humain,"'^  still  it  was  a  constant 
epithet  in  all  of  western  Europe.  Lorraine  pursued  under 
the  name  of  heretics  all  who  blocked  his  ambitions  or  re- 
fused to  serve  them.**^  The  Parlement  of  Paris,  dominated 
by  Ultramontanes  and  Guisards,  was  his  chief  instrument. 
Other  parliaments   assisted,   especially  those   of  Aix  and 

^'^  Correspondance  du  Cardinal  de  Granvelle,  1565-1575.  Ed. 
Poullet  et  Piot.    11  vols.,  Brussels,  1878-85;  vol.  i,  p.  126. 

38  Relations  .  .  .  venetiens,  vol.  i,  p.  435. 

'9  Aymon,  Les  synodes  nationaux  des  eglises  reformees  do 
France,  vol.  i.  p.  82. 

*"  Dufay,  Pierre,  Histoire,  actes  et  remonstrances  des  parlemens. 
2  vols.,  Paris,  1826;  vol.  i,  p.  63. 


I50  FRENCH  protestantism:  1 559-1 562  [558 

Toulouse.  Unknown  persons  carried  the  response  to  cer- 
tain slanders  of  the  cardinal  to  the  parliaments  of  Paris  and 
Rouen.  The  latter  body  sent  it  to  the  king,  but  the  Guises, 
fearing  a  libel,  sent  the  magistrates  home  without  seeing 
the  king.*^  Forms  of  law  were  seldom,  if  ever,  used  in 
capital  punishment :  the  victims'  names  were  never  pub- 
lished. Wherever  the  king  was  sojourning,  distinguished 
heretics  were  hanged,  strangled  or  burnt,  especially  for  the 
amusement  of  the  ladies  of  the  court.  The  guiltless  Du- 
bourg  was  incarcerated  in  the  Bastille  at  the  motion  of  the 
Cardinal.  A  man  was  arrested  if  he  stopped  in  front  of 
the  prison.  Only  the  sudden  death  of  Francis  II  kept 
intact  the  head  of  the  great  Conde.  That  event  affected 
also  one  of  the  most  important  diplomatic  moves  made  by 
the  Guises,  which  was  the  great  effort  made  to  attach  to 
their  party  Brissac,  governor  of  Piedmont  under  Henry  II. 
The  hope  of  playing  him  against  the  constable  Montmo- 
rency and  the  Bourbons  was  ever  a  dominant  impulse.'*- 
Their  extended  system  of  checks  and  balances  was  inter- 
rupted only  when  the  fusion  party  of  the  chancellor  L'Hopi- 
tal  displaced  the  ultra-Catholic  Guises  at  the  death  of 
Francis. 

Concluding  the  survey  of  the  machinations  of  this  am- 
bitious house  in  so  far  as  they  were  political,  one  important 
observation  remains.  Jurisconsults  of  Germany  and  France, 
and  likewise  theologians  and  doctors,  said  that  the  usurped 
government  of  the  Guises  could  be  legitimately  opposed  by 
arms  if  need  be.  The  sequel  is  to  be  found  in  the  chapter 
dealing  with  the  armed  progress  of  the  Reform.  The 
Protestant  rising  was  based  on  definite  legal  grounds. 
Nothing  is  more  curious  in  the  period  of  the  wars  of  reli- 
gion than  the  Protestant  passion  for  legality.  Legists,  pas- 
tors, commanders,  all  sought  legal  basis  for  their  action. 

Just  as  the  political  and  religious  schemes  of  the  house  of 
Guise  were  executed  to  the  detriment  of  the  nobility  and 

■*!  Conde,  vol.  ii,  p.  360. 

*2  Paris,  Negociations  relatives  au  regne  de  Frangois  II,  vol.  ii, 
p.  72- 


5593  GUISE  OR  VALOIS?  I5I 

the  clergy,  so  their  financial  dealings  were  most  often  at 
the  expense  of  the  other  great  order,  the  Third  Estate.  A 
famous  anagram  current  in  1560  voiced  the  sentiment  of 
the  common  people  in  various  transpositions  of  the  letters 
of  "  Charles  de  Lorraine  "  : 

II  cherra  I'asne  dore  (he  worships  the  golden  ass) 

Hardi  larron  se  cele  (bold  thief  hides  himself) 

Renard  lasche  le  roi  (fox,  let  go  the  king) 

Racle  a   Tor   de   Henri    (raked  up   from   the  gold   of   Henry) 

The  amount  "  raked  up  from  the  gold  of  Henry "  was 
independent  of  the  ordinary  income  of  the  Guises.  Their 
patrimony,  church  property,  pensions  and  benefits  from  the 
king  amounted  to  600,000  francs  (nearly  $500,000  today), 
the  cardinal  having  half  that  sum.  The  estates  inherited 
from  their  ancestors  of  Lorraine  would  have  sufficed  for 
any  one  save  the  ambitious  brothers.  Although  an  attend- 
ant of  Marshal  de  Brissac  said  that  one  hundred  houses  in 
France  yielded  nothing  to  the  Guises  in  grandeur,  nobility, 
and  antiquity,*^  yet  the  records  would  seem  to  show  that 
the  house  of  Lorraine  was  second  to  none  in  opulence.  It 
is  the  more  surprising  therefore  to  read  the  Venetian  am- 
bassador's comment  on  the  "  shameful  cupidity  and  du- 
plicity of  the  cardinal.""  In  the  same  letter  this  Catholic 
envoy  refers  to  the  "great  Babylonian  beast,  avarice,  in 
whose  path  follow  so  many  superstitions  and  abominations." 
One  of  the  cardinal's  crowning  acts  of  dishonesty  appeared 
when  he  forced  Queen  Catherine  to  divide  with  him  the 
fees  arising  from  the  confirmation  of  offices  and  the  privi- 
leges accorded  towns  and  municipal  corporations  in  the 
time  of  Henry  II,  which  sums  lawfully  accrued  to  her. 
Then  he  cut  her  share  in  half  by  a  fraudulent  estimate  in 
livres  instead  of  ecus  d'or.*^ 

The  conspicuous  blot  upon  the  public  financial  policy  of 
Guise  was  the  extraordinary  imposition  of  taxes  from  1558 

*3  Laplanche,  vol.  ii,  p.  311. 

^4  Relations'.  .  .  venetiens,  vol.  i,  p.  435:  "  Sa  violence  etait  telle 
que  dans  tout  le  royaume  on  ne  desirait  que  sa  mort." 
*5  ficu  d'or  =:  2  livres  tournois  under  Francis  I. 


152  FRENCH    protestantism:    I559-I562  [^56© 

to  1563.  Tallies  were  redoubled.  Imposts  on  grain,  wine 
and  salt  were  so  increased  that  the  poor  subjects  found 
peace  more  intolerable  than  war.  Loans  purporting  to  re- 
lieve the  royal  treasury  went  to  swell  the  Guisard  ex- 
chequer. A  famous  journal,  Le  Tigre  de  1560,  aptly 
wrote : 

"  Le  feu  Roy  devina  ce  poinct 
Que  ceux  de  la  Maison  de  Guise 
Mettroient  ses  enfants  en  pourpoinct 
Et  son  pauvre  peuple  en  chemise."*** 

Laplanche  declared  that  the  cardinal  would  sell  the  air ! 
"We  must  increase  the  course  of  the  sun  twice  in  order  to 
double  the  crops  to  meet  the  exactions  of  Guise."*^  An 
economic  catastrophe  was  nearly  precipitated  when  the  for- 
eign merchants  refused  to  submit  to  these  exactions.  They 
were  assured  no  profits  if  they  dealt  with  the  Guises,  con- 
sequently France  remained  full  of  wine  and  grains  and 
empty  of  money.  Public  revenues  were  diverted.  Most 
of  the  timber  land  in  France  was  in  Normandy,  Cham- 
pagne, Burgundy,  and  Dauphiny,  forming,  as  it  were,  a 
dotted  line  across  the  kingdom  from  northwest  to  south- 
east. These  "  vacant  lands "  were  rented  out,  but  the  re- 
turns never  reached  the  royal  treasury. 

To  add  to  the  universal  dissatisfaction  due  to  the  finan- 
cial situation,  these  redoubled  tailles  of  the  "  real  kings " 
were  not  used  to  alleviate  conditions.  The  king's  army 
itself  developed  the  most  acute  situation.  Gendarmes,  in- 
fantry, and  cavalry  were  obliged  to  go  for  a  long  time  with- 
out pay,  although  the  Guises'  foreign  mercenaries  were 
always  provided  for.^^  Even  the  salaries  of  officers  of  jus- 
tice were  far  in  arrears.  The  henchmen  of  Lorraine  and 
foreign  satellites  consumed  funds  which  were  diverted  from 
their  customary  channels.  As  far  as  possible  the  greatest 
offices  on  land  or  sea  had  been  secured  by  the  Guise 
brothers  to  their  servants.     Often  their  dependents  bar- 

<6  De  Thou. 

*^  Laplanche,  vol.  i,  p.  326. 

*8  Conde,  p.  408. 


56 1 H  GUISE   OR   VALOIS?  1 53 

tered  for  the  offices  of  justice.*^  From  governors  to  petty 
officials  their  obsequious  adherents  formed  an  anti-mon- 
archical and  anti-Protestant  chain,  from  Flanders  to  Dau- 
phiny,  from  Navarre  to  Brittany.  For  their  friends  they 
created  new  offices,  and  were  quite  unabashed  when,  on 
April  2,  1561,  a  member  of  the  Parlement  of  Paris  declared 
that  the  "government  had  fallen  into  the  hands  of  harpies 
and  griffins,  who  deserve  looo  gibbets!"^"  Some  promi- 
nent persons  were  so  deceived  that  they  even  transferred 
their  inheritances  to  the  duke.^^  It  would  be  difficult  to- 
day to  picture  adequately  the  venality  of  justice,  for  the 
prostitution  of  offices  of  justice  to  the  Guisard  adherents 
was  the  rule.  Reform  in  such  affairs  would  have  straight- 
ened out  the  conditions  of  noble,  military,  merchant,  and 
laboring  classes. 

The  inevitable  intersection  of  Italian  and  French  rela- 
tions was  never  more  apparent  than  in  financial  matters. 
In  the  public  complaint  of  the  French  people,  April  9,  1560, 
it  was  stated  that  the  Guises  had  hired  8000  Italians  for 
their  enterprises,  mercenaries  who  were  paid  with  the 
deniers  of  France.  The  nobility  are  chased  into  the  sea, 
while  the  English  are  incited  into  a  new  war  on  account  of 
the  ambitions  of  Guise.  Four  months  later,  on  August  2t^, 
1560,  at  the  council  of  Fontainebleau,  Marillac,  the  liberal 
archbishop  of  Vienne,  in  his  speech  on  the  program  of  the 
religious  and  political  Huguenots,  remarked :  "  Foreign 
prelates,  chiefly  Italians,  fill  one-third  of  our  benefices,  have 
an  infinite  number  of  pensions,  suck  our  blood  like  leeches, 
and  in  their  hearts,  laugh  at  our  stupidity."^^  The  impor- 
tation of  money  from  Germany  into  Lorraine  was  no  se- 
cret.^' One  apothecary,  on  the  Franco-Italian  border,  said : 
"I  know  of  150  villages  robbed  of  straw,  oats,  wine,  and 
money  for  Guises'  table  and  stable."^* 

*9  Laplanche,  vol.  i.  p.  598. 

'"  Response  to  pamphlet  Pour  la  majorite  du  Frangois  II,  in  Conde 
Memoirs. 

^^  Laplanche,  vol.  i,  p.  309. 

^^  La  Place,  pp.  53-55. 

53  Great  Britain,  Cal.  St.  P.  For.,  No.  789,  Jan.  8,  1562. 

**  Laplanche,  vol.  ii,  p.  300. 


154  FRENCH  protestantism:  1559-1562  [562 

The  evidence  shows  that  ecclesiastical  foundations  were 
not  immune  from  the  financial  greed  of  the  house  of  Lor- 
raine. Did  the  Guises  hold  to  Catholicism  on  account  of 
their  400,000  livres  revenue  from  the  church?  The  fact 
that  it  was  quite  facile  for  the  duke  and  the  cardinal  to 
prove  religious  turncoats  on  several  important  occasions 
would  seem  to  show  this,  while  at  the  same  time  they  were 
piling  up  pluralities  of  bishoprics  and  abbeys.  Two  exam- 
ples of  absorption  will  suffice.  The  rich  abbey  of  St. 
Thierry  des  Rheims,  paying  12,000  livres,  became  vacant 
in  1558.  Before  Henry  II  heard  of  it,  those  "three  har- 
pies. Guise,  Montmorency  and  Diane  de  Poitiers,"  all  ap- 
plied for  it.^^  Happily  the  king  pretended  he  had  already 
given  it  to  the  Marshal  Vieilleville,  who  was  one  of  his 
many  creditors.  Usually  the  monarch,  like  the  Guises,  had 
a  way  of  scattering  sedition  by  threatening  his  creditors. 
In  another  case  the  titles  of  the  monastery  of  Monastierende 
in  Champagne  were  burned  and  the  monks  driven  out,  to 
enrich  the  house  of  Joinville-Lorraine.  Evidently  the 
Guises  were  plagiarizing  the  question  of  Henry  II :  "  Is  it 
better  to  lose  a  kingdom,  or  take  the  money  of  the  church?" 
Aside  from  Paris,  where  the  echevins  were  called  on  to  con- 
tribute eighteen  times  by  Henry  II  in  the  dozen  years  of 
his  reign,  even  to  the  gold  and  silver  plate  of  the  bourgeois 
(1553),  the  church  of  France  was  the  grand  pillar  of  gov- 
ernment finance.  The  clergy  yearly  received  a  sum  equiva- 
lent to  two-fifths  of  the  entire  annual  exports  of  France,  or 
15,000,000  livres  gold.^^ 

In  the  attempt  to  maintain  religious  uniformity  there  were 
several  ways  of  ferreting  out  Huguenots.  In  various  towns 
the  host,  or  consecrated  wafer,  was  borne  in  solemn  pro- 
cession, often  for  the  sole  purpose  of  discovering  heretics 
who  would  not  salute  the  symbol.  For  a  similar  purpose 
little  children  bore  sacred  candles  through  the  streets.  The 
complaints  of  and  to  the  Parlement  of  Paris  on  this  subject 
were  continual.     Wily  spies  pounced  upon  the  unwary  who 

°5  Williams,  H.  Noel,  Henry  II:  his  life  and  times,  p.  171. 
^^  Suriano,  p.  368. 


5633  GUISE  OR  VALOIS?  I55 

did  not  contribute  to  the  money  boxes  nailed  to  the  cor- 
ner lampposts.  House-to-house  visitations  of  collectors  of 
money  with  which  to  persecute  the  Huguenots  helped  to 
fill  the  unspeakable  prisons  of  Paris  of  the  sixteenth  century 
with  the  followers  of  Calvin  and  Luther.  Against  Tours 
on  the  Loire  the  Guises  had  special  malevolence,  and  in- 
voked the  king  to  punish  the  heretics,"  but  one  of  the  pro- 
cessions just  referred  to  met  with  such  clamor  in  the  streets 
of  Dieppe  on  April  30,  1559,  that  the  cardinal  Lorraine 
lost  his  head  and  departed  that  night  under  cover  of  dark- 
ness. He  justified  the  drastic  policy  of  the  government  by 
saying :  "  It  will  be  more  than  necessary  to  apply  violent 
remedies  and  proceed  to  fire  and  sword,  as  otherwise  unless 
provision  be  made,  the  alienation  of  France,  coupled  with 
that  of  England,  Scotland,  and  Germany  would  by  force 
draw  Spain  and  Italy  and  the  rest  of  Christendom  to  the 
same  result. "^^ 

Divergence  in  the  opinions  of  contemporaries  as  to  the 
cardinal's  qualities  of  religious  leadership  is  great.  In  the 
spring  of  1560  the  Venetian  ambassador  wrote:  "During 
the  whole  of  this  Passion  Week  nothing  has  been  attended 
to  but  the  sermon  of  the  Cardinal  Lorraine,  which  gathered 
very  great  congregations,  not  only  to  his  praise,  but  to  the 
universal  astonishment  and  admiration,  both  on  account  of 
his  doctrines  and  by  reasons  of  his  very  fine  gesticulation, 
and  incomparable  eloquence  and  mode  of  utterance.'"^^ 
Perhaps  it  was  in  such  a  moment  of  inspiration  that  the 
prelate  bequeathed  to  posterity  an  evidence  of  conscience 
usually  conspicuous  by  its  absence.  Eight  months  later 
than  the  period  at  which  the  Venetian  ambassador  wrote, 
Francis  II  lay  dying,  before  attaining  his  eighteenth  year. 
His  last  prayer,  dictated  by  Lorraine,  was :  "  Lord,  impute 
not  to  me  thy  servant  the  sin  committed  by  my  ministers 
under  my  name  and  authority.'"'"     The  proffer  of  Charles 

^'^  Laplanche,  vol.  i,  p.  234. 

68  Great  Britain,  Cal.  St.  P.  For.,  No.  952,  April  6,  1560. 

50  Great  Britain,  Cal.  St.  P.  Ven.,  No.  149,  1560. 

*"  Sichel,  p.  105. 


156  FRENCH    protestantism:    I559-I562  [564 

and  Francis  of  Lorraine  to  the  German  princes  (February 
15-17,  1562)  to  enter  the  confession  of  Augsburg  might 
have  evinced  religious  penetration  and  statesmanship  had 
not  the  massacre  of  Vassy  twelve  days  later  labelled  the 
proposition  a  conspiracy.  The  Protestants  despised  the 
scholastic  philosophy  which  the  cardinal  had  studied  at  the 
Sorbonne.^^  Their  ministers  knew  Greek  and  Latin,  but 
the  priests  did  not.  The  duke  of  Guise  evidently  was  of  no 
assistance  to  his  brother  in  theology.  He  told  him  that  the 
Bible  was  good  for  nothing,  having  been  "written  last 
year,"^  while  Christ  died  1500  years  ago."  The  cardinal 
replied  to  the  witnesses :  "  My  brother  is  in  the  wrong." 
His  inability  to  cope  successfully  with  Protestant  doctrines 
is  shown  by  the  Huguenot  historians  in  his  act  of  1560, 
where  he  prevented  the  meeting  of  Catherine  and  a  Calvin- 
ist  minister  at  Rheims,  at  the  time  of  the  coronation  of 
Charles  IX. 

The  most  glaring  instance  of  quibbling  due  to  deficiency 
in  theological  training  was  his  conduct  at  the  very  impor- 
tant Colloquy  of  Poissy.  Simultaneously  in  the  summer  of 
1 561  there  met  the  States-General  at  Pontoise,  north  of  the 
Seine,  and  the  assembly  of  picked  leaders  of  Catholicism 
and  Protestantism  at  Poissy,  south  of  the  same  river.  The 
estates  had  to  face  the  stringent  financial  crisis  described  in 
another  chapter.  Aside  from  Paris,  the  church  of  France 
was  to  prove  more  than  ever  the  pillar  of  government 
finances.^^  Economy  and  retrenchment,  honest  and  effect- 
ive administration,  no  longer  would  avail.  Jean  Bretaigne, 
of  Autun,  the  spokesman  of  the  Third  Estate,  argued  that 
the  immense  resources  of  the  clergy  must  be  used  to  bolster 
government  finances.  All  offices,  benefices,  and  ecclesias- 
tical dignities  not  actually  officiated  either  in  person  or  in 
a  titular  capacity,  must  yield  their  revenues.  The  riches  of 
deceased  bishops  and  monks,  and  of  benefices  in  litigation 

''I  Varillas,  Charles  IX,  p.  11. 
*2  Hanna,  p.  79. 

«3  Great  Britain,  Cal.  St.  P.  For.,  No.  396,  Aug.  n,  1561 ;  Thomp- 
son, p.  107. 


565]  GUISE   OR   VALOIS?  1 57 

should  be  taken  over  by  the  government.  A  scale  of  one- 
quarter  to  two-thirds  was  to  be  applied  to  those  benefices 
ranging  from  500  to  12000  livres  in  annual  income.  As  for 
incomes  exceeding  the  latter  figure,  the  government  was  to 
retain  all  but  4000  livres  in  the  case  of  the  clergy,  all  but 
6000  in  case  of  cardinals,  archbishops,  and  bishops.  The 
plan  as  it  touched  the  religious  orders  was  severe.  From 
the  Benedictines,  founded  in  Italy  in  529  A.D.,  to  the 
Jesuitesses,  established  in  Flanders  by  an  English  woman 
in  1554,  all  revenues  except  a  pittance  for  support  were  to 
be  appropriated.  Further  sumptuary  laws  would  increase 
this  total.  As  a  last  resort  all  ecclesiastical  property  might 
be  sold  directly.  Before  such  a  proposition  the  nobility 
was  in  a  dilemma,  but  finally  a  compromise  was  attained. 
The  royal  domain  was  all  to  be  redeemed  by  the  clergy  by 
January,  1568,  and  the  rest  of  the  debt  to  be  cleared  by 

1574-** 

The  Colloquy  of  Poissy  between  the  leaders  of  Protest- 
antism and  Catholicism  was  being  held  simultaneously  with 
the  session  at  Pontoise.  It  had  been  called  for  July  2,  1561, 
but  inadequate  means  of  travel  and  other  delays  had  post- 
poned the  actual  convening  until  September  15.°^  Indeed 
the  financial  and  religious  issues  were  so  urgent  that  the 
Parlement  of  Paris  had  met  daily  except  Sundays  from 
June  18  till  July  11,  1561.''''  The  advantages  between  the 
parties  represented  were  not  at  all  equal.  On  one  side  were 
fifty-two  rich  prelates  (present  only  through  royal  com- 
mand) masters  of  the  situation  and  ready  to  close  the  debate 
as  soon  as  it  seemed  unfavorable.  Some  of  the  delegates 
of  the  Spanish  clergy  on  their  way  to  the  council  of  Trent 
paused  in  their  journey  to  gloat  over  the  discomfiture  of 
the  heretics.  Lainez,  the  Spanish  Jesuit  general,  appeared 
at  Poissy  without  summons,  to  give  the  meeting  another 
touch  of  intrigue  and  violence.*'^     On  the  other  hand  the 

«*  Great  Britain,  Cal.  St.  P.  For.,  No.  750,  Dec.  28,  1561. 
"^  Papiers  d'etat  du  cardinal  de  Granvelle,  vol.  vi,  p.  I37- 
'*  Conde,  vol.  ii,  p.  396. 
•■^  Dufay,  Parlemens,  vol.  i,  p.  68. 


158  FRENCH    protestantism:    I559-I562  [566 

Protestant  ministers  came  under  a  precarious  safe  conduct, 
and  were  watched  more  than  protected  by  the  guards. 

Having  already  kept  the  Protestants  waiting  sixteen  days 
before  opening  the  conference,  Charles,  cardinal  of  Lor- 
raine, addressed  the  colloquy  on  the  second  day  of  the  debate 
(September  i6,  1561),  delivering  one  of  the  "very  long 
speeches  "  which  according  to  Suriano  were  made  by  all  the 
delegates.  His  address  dealt  with  two  points :  one,  that 
the  king,  not  being  the  head  of  the  church,  might  not  act  as 
a  judge  in  religious  matters ;  the  other,  that  the  authority 
of  the  church  was  extended  even  over  princes.  The  car- 
dinal directed  a  shaft  at  the  Huguenot  pastors  by  defining 
the  church  as  "  the  company  of  Christians  in  which  is  com- 
prised both  reprobates  and  heretics,  and  which  has  been 
recognized  always,  everywhere,  and  by  all,  and  which  alone 
had  the  right  of  interpreting  Scriptures."^^  The  inclusion 
of  "  heretics "  in  this  description  was  probably  more  from 
temporization  than  connection.  The  cardinal  attempted  to 
reply  to  only  two  of  the  points  emphasized  by  Theodore 
Beza,  the  Huguenot  leader.  He  asserted  the  Real  Presence 
in  the  Eucharist,  denied  by  Beza,  and  further  argued  that 
the  church  is  no  mere  aggregation  of  the  elect.  The  church- 
man quibbled  with  Beza  as  to  whether  on  one  occasion  the 
latter  had  written  that  Christ  was  not  more  in  "  Coena  " 
that  in  "  Coeno."^^  In  spite  of  Addison's  declaration  that 
"  a  pun  can  be  no  more  engraven  than  it  can  be  translated," 
Charles  was  accusing  Beza  of  the  impossible  sacrilege  of  the 
statement  that  Providence  was  not  more  in  the  supper  than 
in  the  mire ! 

The  cardinal's  malice  was  instrumental  in  causing  the 
Protestant  ministers  to  stand  back  of  the  rail  in  the  assembly 
room  as  they  spoke.  Their  demands  included  the  proposi- 
tions: (i)  The  bishops,  abbots,  and  other  ecclesiastics  should 
not  be  constituted  in  any  way  judges  of  the  Huguenots,  in 
view  of  the  fact  that  they  were  their  opponents;  (2)  That 
all  points  of  difference  be  judged  and  decided  according  to 

««  Great  Britain,  Cal.  St.  P.  For.,  No.  507,  Sept.  17,  1561. 
^^  Baird,  Beza,  p.  136. 


567]  GUISE   OR  VALOIS?  1 59 

the  simple  word  of  God,  as  contained  in  the  New  and  Old 
Testaments,  since  the  Reformed  faith  was  founded  on  this 
alone,  and  that  where  any  difficulties  arose  concerning  the 
interpretation  of  words,  reference  should  be  made  to  the 
original  Hebrew  and  Greek  text/°  But  the  gulf  between 
the  two  parties  seemed  hopeless.  The  colloquy  dissolved 
on  October  i8.  Coligny  and  the  Chancellor  L'Hopital 
thwarted,  if  they  did  not  dominate  the  Papal-Spanish  party. 
L'Hopital's  scheme  was  two-fold:  (i)  to  assure  Protestants 
of  liberty  of  conscience;  (2)  to  make  royal  power  the  pro- 
tector of  all  creeds,  and  not  a  party  head.^^  This  policy  was 
finally  carried  out  under  Henry  IV.  Witty  Madame  Cursol 
said  to  the  cardinal  Lorraine  after  Poissy :  "  Good  man  for 
this  evening,  but  tomorrow,  what  ?  "^^  The  next  day 
Charles  boasted  he  had  overcome  Beza  and  brought  him  over 
to  his  opinion,  but  as  a  matter  of  fact  the  Guises  made  more 
Protestants  than  the  preaching  of  all  the  Protestant  apostles. 
Their  religious  policy  should  at  this  point  be  considered. 

Many  councils,  canons,  and  courts  had  forbidden  ecclesi- 
astics from  mixing  in  secular  affairs,  especially  war.  Un- 
fortunately for  France,  the  ecclesiastic  position  of  the  "  Car- 
dinal de  la  Ruine "  kept  him  from  being  responsible  to 
secular  judges.  He  could  not  be  reached,  for  one  of  the 
elements  in  the  strength  of  the  Guises  lay  in  their  vast 
clerical  influence.  Four  cardinalates  and  eleven  bishoprics 
were  answerable  to  the  house  of  Lorraine.  Nevertheless  no 
biography  of  Charles  and  Francis  has  ever  proved  that 
they  were  pious  Catholics.  The  unbiased  reader  will  find 
numerous  instances  of  their  using  religion  as  a  life-line.'^'' 
Even  more  often  they  will  be  suspected  of  subscribing  to  a 
cult  similar  to  that  of  Catherine  de  Medicis  and  many  others 
of  the  sixteenth  century  who  professed  no  religion  what- 
ever. In  1559  they  who  had  been  simply  Guisards  decided 
to  change  their  names  to  Catholics. 

70  Archives  Nationales,  K.  1494,  No.  96. 

71  Baudrillrat,  Theories  Politiques,  p.  52. 

72  Baird,  Beza,  p.  145. 

73  La  Boetie,  p.  17. 


i6o  FRENCH  protestantism:  1 559-1 562  [568 

The  indictment  of  introducing  the  Inquisition  into  France 
was  preferred  against  the  Guises  by  the  three  Electors, 
Wiirtemberg,  and  the  duke  of  Zweibriicken,  on  March  19, 
1558.  Doubtless  this  accusation  related  to  the  most  serious 
religious  or  political  misdemeanor  ever  advanced  against  the 
house  of  Lorraine.  Rather  would  the  French  populace 
have  forgiven  usurpation  of  the  throne  of  the  Valois. 
Under  guise  of  assisting  and  defending  the  purity  of  Chris- 
tendom, "  misericordia  et  justitia  "  the  motto,  the  most  fla- 
grant injustice  and  those  cruel  "  tender  mercies  "  mentioned 
by  the  Book  of  Proverbs  made  up  the  Inquisition.  The 
latter  had  passed  from  Provence  into  France  in  1255,  when 
Alexander  IV  named  the  provincial  of  the  Dominicans  and 
the  head  of  the  Franciscans  at  Paris  his  inquisitors-general 
for  France  at  the  insistent  request  of  St.  Louis,  whose  piety 
was  of  the  narrowest  crusading  type.  (Were  he  living 
today  he  would  be  horrified  to  know  that  the  Moslems  of 
Tunis  revere  him  as  a  saint  who  died  in  the  Moslem  faith!) 
But  the  Galilean  church,  resenting  this  interference  of  the 
inevitable  ultramontane  influence,  even  opposed  and  helped 
defeat  the  innovation.  When  Ferdinand  and  Isabella  united 
Castile  and  Aragon,  the  Inquisition  had  been  reorganized 
in  Spain  under  a  code  of  thirty-nine  articles,  drawn  up  by 
the  famous  Dominican  Torquemada  and  later  revised  by 
Cardinal  Ximines.  Llorente,  a  competent  authority,  says 
that  in  Spain  alone,  until  Napoleon  suppressed  it,  31,912 
were  burned,  out  of  a  total  of  341,021  who  were  punished 
and  handed  over  to  the  auto-da-fe.'^*  The  Guises  wished  to 
gratify  the  Pope  and  establish  the  Inquisition  in  France  as 
in  Spain.''^  At  least  this  was  the  word  brought  to  Henry 
II  by  Cardinal  Caraffa,  according  to  the  brilliant  cavalry 
leader  Tavannes.  So,  in  1557,  the  Inquisition  in  its  latest 
form  was  introduced  into  France.  It  was  through  no  fault 
of  the  Guises  that  its  hold  on  French  soil  was  always  small. 
Its  success  would  have  furthered  their  religious,  political, 
and  financial  plans.      One  characteristic  would  have  par- 

''*  J.  A.  Llorente,  Historia  Critica  de  la  inquisicion  de  Espaiia. 
''6  Tavannes,  vol.  ii,  p.  185. 


569]  GUISE   OR   VALOIS?  I6I 

ticularly  pleased  the  Cardinal  Lorraine,  namely  the  hope  of 
a  rich  hooty  from  confiscation.  One  illustrious  victim 
whom  the  Guises  hoped  to  betray  was  the  Cardinal  Chatil- 
lon,  the  brother  of  Coligny.  Through  the  craft  of  Lorraine 
this  churchman  was  placed  on  the  French  board  of  Inquisi- 
tion with  three  other  cardinals. '^^  In  the  opinion  of  the 
writer,  chancellor  L'Hopital  urged  the  edict  of  Romorantin, 
in  May,  1560,  to  prevent  the  Guises  from  introducing  the 
Inquisition.  Furthermore,  this  royal  decree  was  a  sop  to  the 
priests,  for  it  removed  completely  the  jurisdiction  of  legal 
processes  from  the  courts  of  parliament  and  from  lay  judges 
who  had  been  empowered  to  render  summary  judgments, 
and  restored  it  to  the  ecclesiastical  judges.  D'Aubigne 
proves  that  this  move  was  an  assurance  to  suspected  persons 
that  the  death  penalty  was  no  longer  a  serious  menace, 
thanks  to  the  opportunity  of  appeals  from  the  acts  of 
bishops  to  archbishops  and  from  thence  to  Rome.'^^ 
As  has  been  said,  the  brothers  of  Guise  preached: 

"  Un  Christ  tout  noircy  de  f umee 

Portant  un  morion  en  teste  et  dans  la  main 

Un  large  coutelas  rouge  de  sang  humain."^^ 

In  addition  to  the  inquisition  their  savage  policy  pre- 
sented many  other  angles.  The  treaty  concluded  between 
France  and  Spain  in  1559  at  the  little  French  town  of 
Cateau-Cambresis  was  aimed  at  the  Reform.  The  presence 
in  Paris  of  the  duke  of  Alva  confirmed  the  prevailing  im- 
pression that  Philip  II  and  Henry  II  intended  to  establish 
the  inquistion  in  France.  Even  before  the  Romorantin 
Edict  of  1560,  the  Parlement  of  Paris  formally  declared 
against  the  large  increase  in  the  powers  of  the  ecclesiastical 
courts  and  the  corresponding  decrease  in  those  of  the  regular 
legal  tribunals.  It  further  protested  against  conversion  by 
persecution,  .and  the  Spanish  form  of  the  inquisition."  It 
was  proposed  that  the  inquisitors  be  empowered  to  appoint 


7«  Beza,  Histoire  ecclesiastique  des  eglises  reformees,  p.  137. 
T7  D'Aubigne,  vol.  i,  p.  274. 
'*  Lettenhove,  p.  79. 

^o  Armstrong,  Wars  of  Religion  in  France,  p.  4. 
II 


l62  FRENCH    protestantism:    I559-I562  [570 

diocesan  tribunals,  which  could  decide  without  appeal.  The 
Parlement  of  Paris  absolutely  declined  to  register  this  edict, 
but  the  king  entered  the  Mercuriale,  or  the  famous  Wednes- 
day assembly,  and  broke  with  tradition  by  ordering  the 
arrest  of  five  members,  among  them  the  advocate  Du  Bourg, 
who  had  protested  against  the  introduction  of  the  inquisition. 

This  action  placed  one  of  the  most  influential  elements 
of  the  kingdom  in  an  unfriendly  mood  toward  the  govern- 
ment, and  since  the  grievance  was  the  sequel  of  the  religious 
program  of  the  Guises,  it  had  a  marked  tendency  to  create 
a  "  rapprochement "  between  the  reformers  and  the  judicial 
classes.  The  most  eminent  jurists  in  1560  were  in  the 
Protestant  minority.  Even  the  Roman  Catholic  historian 
Florimond  de  Remond  records^"  that  the  youths  who  were 
present  at  Du  Bourg's  execution  at  the  stake  on  December 
23,  1559,  cursed  the  judges.  "This  punishment  did  more 
harm  to  Catholicism  than  100  ministers  would  have  done." 
To  entangle  one  other  powerful  personage  in  the  state  was 
the  aim  of  the  Guises  and  he  barely  escaped  the  net.  This 
was  the  Chancellor  L'Hopital,  to  whom  with  Coligny  accrued 
the  credit  of  the  Edict  of  Romorantin  and  other  lenitive 
measures.  The  Huguenot  writer.  General  La  Noue,  over- 
heard the  duke  of  Alva  exclaim :  "  Catch  the  big  fishes ! 
One  salmon  (L'Hopital)  is  worth  10,000  frogs."^^ 

Other  instances  of  Guisard  cruelty  "  for  the  good  of  the 
true  religion"  are  plentiful.  Maugiron  was  instructed  to 
sack  and  put  to  fire  and  sword  all  of  the  reformed  in 
Dauphiny.^2  After  the  conspiracy  of  Amboise  in  the  middle 
of  March,  1560,  Guise  ordered  the  masters  of  the  forests 
of  the  Orleannais,  Berry,  and  Poitou  to  kill  all  suspects, 
without  bringing  them  to  him,  and  ugly  rumors  circulated 
that  the  Guises  and  Diane  de  Poitiers,  Henry  H's  favorite, 
maintained  at  Paris  a  special  staff  of  Italian  and  Spanish 
physicians  for  the  purpose  of  making  an  unobtrusive  end  of 
the  owners  of  certain  benefices. 

^0  Bulletin  of  French  Protestantism,  vol.  xxxvii,  p.  529. 
SI  Blackburn,  Admiral  Coligny  and  the  Rise  of  the  Huguenots, 
vol.  ii,  p.  40. 

82  Arnaud,  Dauphine,  p.  47. 


CHAPTER   VII 

The  Arsenal  of  Protestantism 

The  certainty  of  civil  war  was  assured  by  the  turn  of 
events  in  1562.  In  less  than  fifteen  years  after  that  date 
a  million  perished  in  war  in  the  name  of  religion.  The 
struggle  was  bitter,  for  the  sixteenth  century  was  a  period 
of  ardent  passions  and  little  regard  for  human  life.  The 
contest  was  further  intensified  in  that  the  Protestants  were 
obliged  to  combat  the  authority  of  a  long  established  mon- 
archy as  well  as  the  mediaeval  church.  Indeed,  it  has  been 
asserted  that  all  excuses  for  the  Huguenot  revolt  rest  upon 
the  minority  of  two  of  these  kings,^  and  a  Protestant  biog- 
rapher of  Coligny,  writing  from  another  point  of  view,  in- 
sists that  the  Calvinists  were  defeated  because  in  a  war  for 
freedom  of  worship  they  were  obliged  to  contend  with  the 
prestige  of  the  king's  name.^  Furthermore  at  the  out- 
break of  the  war  the  Catholic  party  was  strongly  intrenched 
in  the  local  government  of  the  provinces.  Not  less  than 
nine  of  the  fourteen  governors  were  of  the  royal  faction.^ 

As  early  as  July  26,  1561,  Philip  of  Spain  had  learned 
from  his  minister  Chantonnay  that  "  in  Brittany  and  Nor- 
mandy things  are  turbulent  as  always."*  Two  months  later 
the  Huguenots  had  seized  the  Garonne  valley  towns  of 
Castres,   Lavaur,   Revel,   Rabastens,   and   Realmont.     The 

1  Weill,  p.  39. 

2  Bersier,  p.  xvi  (preface). 

3  Laplanche,  vol.  i,  p.  399.  From  the  council  of  August,  1560,  the 
lords  went  out  to  the  following  assignments :  Montmorency,  Isle-de- 
France;  St.  Andre,  Moulins ;  Brissac,  Picardy;  Thermes,  Loches; 
Villebon,  Rouen ;  Nivernais,  Champagne-Brie,  then  to  Troyes ; 
Montpensier,  Touraine,  to  which  were  annexed  the  duchies  of  Anjou 
and  Vendome,  and  the  counties  of  Maine,  Blois,  and  Dunois ;  La 
Mothe-Gondrin,  Dauphiny;  Roche-sur  Yon,  Orleannais,  duchy  of 
Berri,  Beausse,  Chartrain  and  Montagris. 

4  Archives  Nationales,  K.  1495,  No.  54. 

163 


i64  FRENCH  protestantism:  1 559-1 562  [572 

letter  of  the  Catholic  Joyeuse  to  Montmorency,  dated  Sep- 
tember 30,  also  bore  the  information  that  the  great  Notre 
Dame  Cathedral  at  Montpellier  in  Languedoc  had  been 
taken  by  four  thousand  Protestants.^  At  intervals  during 
December  of  1561  Chantonnay  reiterated  in  his  reports  the 
unrest  in  France.  Utilizing  Sundays  to  write  his  royal 
master  at  the  new  capital  and  "  unica  corte  "  of  Madrid,  the 
ambassador  described  on  December  7  and  21,  the  great 
revolt  in  Gascony  and  at  Amiens,  in  Picardy.^  On  the 
29th  of  December  there  came  frora  the  same  source  an 
account  of  a  great  insurrection  at  Meaux,  a  Huguenot  center 
twenty-eight  miles  to  the  east  of  Paris.'^ 

The  year  1562  was  ushered  in  with  the  Edict  of  Tolera- 
tion of  January  17,  but  a  violent  conflagration  soon  threat- 
ened the  kingdom.  We  may  pause  to  ask  if  this  could 
have  been  avoided.  In  view  of  the  fact  that  Henry  H  in 
his  day  had  given  aid  to  German  Protestants,  would  not  the 
incidents  of  Dreux  and  eventual  civil  war  have  been  pre- 
vented if  the  wise  Coligny's  advice  to  send  help  to  William 
of  Orange  against  the  Spanish  Alva  had  been  followed? 

It  was  not  Spanish  intervention,  but  the  massacre  of 
Vassy,  in  Lorraine,  on  March  i,  1562,  which  immediately 
precipitated  the  first  war  of  religion.  On  the  15th  of  Feb- 
ruary, as  we  have  seen  elsewhere,  Francis  of  Guise  had 
temporarily  hoaxed  the  Protestant  duke  of  Wiirtemberg  at 
the  conference  of  Saverne.  On  his  way  to  Paris  from  the 
family  estates  at  Joinville  the  retinue  of  Guise  rode  through 
the  village  of  Vassy.  On  the  outskirts  a  little  Huguenot 
company  of  townspeople  were  worshipping  in  a  barn  on 
the  Sabbath  morning.  Their  assembly  was  according  to  the 
Edict  of  January,  then  but  six  weeks  old.  Yet  the  hench- 
men of  Guise  shot  and  hacked  the  men,  women,  and  chil- 
dren of  the  congregation.  The  exact  provocation  and  cir- 
cumstances, authorities  agree,  will  always  remain  sealed. 
Ranke  tersely  concludes  that  "  whether  the  duke  intended 

s  Conde,  vol.  ii,  p.  435. 

«  Archives  Nationales,  K.  1495,  Nos.  95,  105. 

7  Ibid.,  No.  107. 


573]  THE   ARSENAL   OF    PROTESTANTISM  165 

the  massacre  or  not,  it  is  enough  that  he  did  not  prevent 
it."« 

March,  1562,  was  an  eventful  month.  In  less  than  three 
weeks  the  Huguenots  had  seized  three  dozen  large  towns. ° 
The  importance  of  these  cities  may  be  realized  when  it  is 
stated  that  the  majority  coincided  with  the  famous  itinerary 
of  pacification  of  his  kingdom  undertaken  by  Charles  IX  in 
1564-66.  Beginning  at  Sens,  southeast  of  Paris,  the  Prot- 
estants proceeded  to  capture  Chalons-sur-Saone  and  Macon 
in  Burgundy ;  all  the  country  about  Lyons,  west  of  La 
Bresse  in  the  divisions  of  Forez  and  Lyonnais ;  Montbrison, 
southwest  of  Lyons,  and  Vienne,  south  of  the  same  town, 
on  the  Dauphinese  Rhone ;  then  Romans,  Tournon,  Valence, 
and  Montelimart,  on  the  left  bank  of  that  river  as  it  flows 
towards  the  Mediterranean.  In  eastern  Dauphiny  the  im- 
portant town  of  Grenoble  was  taken  by  the  Huguenots,  as 
were  Gap,  in  the  modern  Hautes-Alpes,  and  Sisteron  on  the 
south  side  of  the  Durance  river,  forming  the  boundary  be- 
tween the  divisions  of  Hautes-  and  Basses-Alpes.  The 
Protestants  of  the  Comtat-Venaissin  subdued  Avignon,  at 
the  juncture  of  the  Rhone  and  the  Durance,  and  the  terri- 
tory around  this  provincial  capital,  particularly  Orange, 
directly  north.  From  the  southeastern  corner  of  the  king- 
dom the  wave  of  Huguenot  successes  undulated  to  the 
Spanish  boundary.  In  the  northern  (Velay)  center  (Vi- 
varais),  and  southern  (Cevennes)  subdivisions  of  Upper 
Languedoc,  Protestant  successes  were  the  rule.  In  Lower 
Languedoc  five  towns  dotting  the  main  highway  to  the 
Spanish  frontier  fell  before  the  Huguenots :  Nimes,  Aigues- 
Mortes,  Montpellier,  Beziers,  and  Castelnaudary,  in  addi- 
tion to  Castres,  further  north.  The  Bearnese,  in  the  ex- 
treme southwest  of  France,  led  by  their  capitol,  Pau,  ea- 
gerly accepted  the  new  doctrines. 

As  we  traverse  in  imagination  the  western  side  of  the 
square-shaped  kingdom,  we  find  that  Lectoure  in  Gascony, 

'  Ranke,  Civil  Wars  and  Monarchy  in  France,  p.  211. 
^  Mandet,   Histoire  des   Guerres   civiles,   politiques,   et  religieuscs 
dans  les  montagnes  du  Velay  pendant  le  i6e  siecle,  p.  70. 


i66  FRENCH  protestantism:  1 559-1 562  [574 

Agen,  Montauban  and  Milhau  in  Lower  Guyenne,  and  La 
Rochelle  in  Aunis,  opened  their  gates  to  the  swift  moving 
Huguenots.  In  the  north,  Havre,  Rouen,  Honfleur,  and 
Dieppe  declared  for  Conde,  during  the  month  under  con- 
sideration, March,  1562.  Possibly  the  Protestants  at  the 
outset  were  best  entrenched  in  central  France.  The  river 
Loire,  coiling  about  the  heart  of  the  kingdom,  was  a  favorite 
locality  with  the  new  sect.  Starting  at  the  mouth  of  the 
great  river  system,  Angers,  Pont-de-Ce  and  Saumur  (An- 
jou),  Tours  (Touraine),  Blois  and  Beaugency  (Orlean- 
nais),  Bourges  (Berry)  and  Moulins  (Bourbonnais)  suc- 
cumbed to  or  sided  with  the  Huguenots.  The  culmination 
of  the  activities  during  March,  1562,  was  reached  when 
Conde  started  from  Meaux  in  Ile-de-France  for  Orleans. 
Ever  since  the  promulgation  of  the  Edict  of  January  the 
great  Louis  had  been  preparing  for  the  inevitable  outbreak. 
Now  after  two  months  his  forces  were  ready  on  March  29 
to  cross  the  Seine  and  advance  upon  Orleans,  which  for 
many  years  was  destined  to  be  the  Protestant  metropolis. 

To  the  dismay  of  Catherine  and  the  Guises  the  prince, 
along  with  Coligny,  D'Andelot,  and  three  thousand  cavalry, 
appeared  before  the  gates  of  Paris  on  the  29th  of  March.^" 
The  draw-bridges,  however,  were  raised,  and  all  prepara- 
tions made  for  a  possible  attack  by  the  Protestants.  Conde 
issued  an  edict  to  the  effect  that  the  young  king  was  literally 
a  captive  of  the  Guises.  When  the  Catholic  leaders  went 
further  and  abducted  the  sovereign  to  Melun,  negotiations 
ceased  and  the  Protestant  leaders  set  out  for  Orleans.  The 
Huguenot  march  to  the  capital  of  the  Loire  consumed  five 
days,  ending  on  the  2d  of  April.  St.  Cloud,  Longjumeau, 
Montehery,  Etampes,  Angerville,  Toury,  Artenay,  and  Cer- 
cottes  heard  the  thud  of  Huguenot  cavalry.  Three  days 
after  the  arrival  of  Conde  at  Orleans,  Montmorency  ordered 
the  Calvinist  temple  near  the  Parisian  Port  St.  Antoine 
razed  and  the  contents  burned.  On  the  8th,  and  again  on 
the  25th  of  April,  Conde  accused  the  Triumvirate  of  begin- 

10  Great  Britain,  Cal.  St.  P.  For.,  No.  967,  March  31,  1562. 


575^  THE   ARSENAL   OF   PROTESTANTISM  167 

ning  the  war,  declared  Vassy  to  have  been  a  violation  of 
the  January  Edict,  and  defended  the  Protestants  for  begin- 
ning hostilities,  but  his  apology,  although  correct,  did  not 
win  the  universal  approbation  of  the  Huguenots.  The 
town  of  La  Rochelle  and  warm  sympathizers  like  Louis  de 
Gonzague,  duke  of  Nevers,  and  the  duke  of  Bouillon  (so 
strongly  Protestant  that  Aumale  replaced  him  as  governor 
of  Normandy),  refused  at  first  to  follow  the  lead.^^  On 
Sunday,  April  12,  three  weeks  after  the  day  when  his 
brother  of  Navarre  attended  mass  and  definitely  declared 
himself  a  Romanist,  Louis  of  Conde  formally  assumed 
command  of  the  Huguenot  forces.  The  first  of  the  wars 
of  religion  had  begun. 

Hostilities  now  broke  out  all  over  France.  Ile-de-France 
and  Burgundy  adhered  to  the  established  religion,  the  for- 
mer from  inclination,  the  latter  on  account  of  Marshal 
Tavannes.  This  cavalry  leader  retook  Macon  and  Chalons- 
sur-Saone  from  the  Huguenots,  and  prevented  Dijon  from 
falling  into  their  hands.  Montbrison  retired  to  Lyons,  leav- 
ing Burgundy  clear  of  the  Protestants.^^  In  Dauphiny  and 
Provence  great  massacres  took  place  on  both  sides.  The 
natives  of  these  two  provinces  of  the  fiery  south  of  France 
seemed  cruel  and  warlike.  It  was  in  the  same  vicinity 
three  hundred  years  previously  that  the  Waldenses  had 
sprung  up.  To  assert  that  in  any  national  commotion  of 
such  a  nature  the  excesses  were  on  one  side  only  would  be 
to  assume  that  a  portion  of  our  race  are  angels.  Generally 
the  excesses  of  the  oppressed  party  were  retaliatory,  hence, 
both  iniquitous  and  defensible,  and  it  may  suffice  to  mention 
two  noteworthy  "  butchers,"  one  of  each  party.  Baron  des 
Adrets,  starting  the  war  on  the  Huguenot  side,  proclaimed 
all  the  Catholics  in  Dauphiny,  Lyonnais,  Burgundy,  and 
Limousin  rebels  to  the  king.  He  captured  Grenoble,  Va- 
lence, and  Chalons,  in  spite  of  the  fact  that  Tavannes  was 
said  to  have  8000  foot,  1500  horse,  and  6000  Swiss  from 

1^  Castelnau,  p.  166. 
12  Castelnau,  p.  183. 


i68  FRENCH  protestantism:  1 559-1 562  [[576 

Berne  and  Lucerne.  From  the  roof  of  a  castle  at  Mornas, 
in  Dauphiny,  Adrets  caused  two  hundred  men  to  be  hurled : 
the  hands  which  clutched  at  the  window  bars  were  severed 
with  sword  and  ax.^^  But  the  achievements  of  the  baron 
pale  into  insignificance  before  those  of  the  famous  Monluc. 
The  latter  boasted  that  he  "  rather  inclined  to  violence  than 
to  peace,  and  was  more  prone  to  fighting  and  cutting  of 
throats  than  to  making  of  speeches."^*  As  early  as  January, 
1560,  the  veteran  had  been  commissioned  as  the  "conserva- 
teur  de  la  Guyenne."  We  read  that  in  one  case  his  troops 
"were  so  few  that  we  were  not  enough  to  kill  them  all," 
while  before  Agen  the  Huguenots  "  no  sooner  heard  my 
name  but  they  fancied  the  rope  already  about  their  necks." 
Pope  Pius  wrote  Monluc :  "  You  are  making  a  glorious 
name."^^  A  historian  of  Upper  Languedoc  compared 
Adrets,  who  one  month  after  the  massacre  of  Vassy  suc- 
ceeded the  deceased  La  Mothe-Gondarin  as  governor  of 
Dauphiny ,^^  to  a  Tartar  of  the  seventh  century."  He  and 
his  satellite  Blazons,  like  Monluc,  were  accused  of  leaving 
ruin  behind  them. 

April,  1562,  was  almost  as  epoch-making  as  the  preced- 
ing month.  In  addition  to  the  cities  already  enumerated, 
the  small  towns  of  Ponteau-de-Mer,  Pezenas,  Pierrelot, 
Mornas,  Montlinas,  and  Viviers  were  controlled  by  the  Hu- 
guenots." Sens  in  Champagne,  Toul  in  Lorraine,  Abbe- 
ville in  Picardy,  Tours,  Cahors  in  Quercy,  Toulouse,  and 
Agen  were  the  scenes  of  bloody  riots. ^^  In  the  latter  city 
Charles  IX  called  upon  the  governor  of  Guyenne  to  repress 
the  violence.-"  On  the  fifth  of  the  month  Montmorency 
raided  the  homes  and  chapel  of  the  Protestants  of  Paris  at 
3  a.m.,  burning  books  and  benches.     It  was  claimed  that 

13  Castelnau,  p.  183. 
1*  Monluc,  vol.  iv,  pp.  111-225. 
15  Blackburn,  vol.  ii,  p.  47. 
1^  Capefigue,  Histoire  de  la  Reforme,  p.  no. 
1'^  Mandet,  Velay,  p.  27. 
1^  Haton,  vol.  i,  p.  189. 
19  Beza,  vol.  i,  p.  416. 

*o  Inventaire  des  Archives  communales  d'Agen,  Villeneuve-sur- 
Lot,  1876,  XXX,  p.  28,  Apr.  17,  1562. 


577]  THE   ARSENAL   OF    PROTESTANTISM  169 

seventy  Huguenot  soldiers  were  discovered  in  concealment 
in  the  home  of  Rose,  avocat  du  roi.  Two  days  later  the 
Protestant  military  heads  issued  an  urgent  appeal  for  as- 
sistance from  each  of  their  2150  churches.'^  On  the  nth 
of  April  the  recruiting  captains  of  the  king  in  Normandy 
and  Champagne  were  prevented  by  the  Huguenots  from  en- 
listing soldiers  in  Rouen  and  Troyes.^-  Eight  days  later 
the  thoroughly  frightened  Catherine  bade  the  triumvirate 
formally  to  invite  the  support  of  Spain.  This  was  done  on 
April  21.^^  The  same  day  Rochefoucauld  with  four  hun- 
dred horsemen  and  Grammont  with  four  thousand  Gascons 
started  from  Provence  and  Languedoc.  Before  they  could 
join  the  Orleans  troops,  however,  the  force  from  Gascony 
was  compelled  to  turn  to  the  southeast  to  meet  the  Spanish 
reinforcements  poured  into  Fortarbia  to  thwart  a  possible 
Huguenot  attack  upon  Navarre.  A  despatch  of  the  Catholic 
bishop  St.  Croix  under  date  of  April  29,  1562,  conveyed  the 
news  that  since  the  massacre  at  Sens  eighty  of  the  Reform 
had  been  killed  and  thirty  of  their  homes  burned  at  Paris.^* 
Conde,  on  the  last  day  of  the  month,  reported  the  capture 
of  Lyons  "by  the  faithful  in  the  king's  name."^^ 

By  the  end  of  April  Conde  dominated  these  provinces : 
in  the  northwest,  Maine,  Anjou,  Touraine,  and  much  of 
Normandy,  including  Dieppe,  Rouen,  and  Caen ;  in  the 
west,  Poitou,  besides  much  of  the  middle  Loire  country;  in 
the  southwest,  parts  of  Guyenne  and  Gascony,  in  which 
latter  province  the  Huguenots  were  constantly  intercepting 
couriers  between  the  French  and  Spanish  courts ;  in  the 
southeast,  Provence  and  Dauphiny,  in  addition  to  Lyons. 
The  month  of  May  was  ushered  in  by  the  ordinance  of 
Charles  IX,  issued  on  the  second,  which  permitted  those 
citizens  of  Paris  fit  to  bear  arms  to  form  companies  under 
chosen  captains. ^^     On  the  eighth  the  young  king  formally 

21  St.  Croix,  p.  121. 

22  St.  Croix,  p.  133. 

23  Archives  Nationales,  K.  1496,  B.  14,  No.  61. 
2*  St.  Croix,  p.  133. 

25  Conde,  vol.  iii,  p.  350,  4  j. 
2«  Ibid.,  vol.  iii,  p.  419. 


I70  FRENCH  protestantism:  1559-1562  [578 

begged  military  aid  of  Philip  II,  who  granted  it  exactly 
one  month  later.^^  Havre-de-Grace,  at  the  outlet  of  the 
Seine,  was  captured  by  the  Protestants  on  May  14,  much 
to  the  dismay  of  the  Guises.  Great  was  the  alarm  of  the 
Catholics  at  the  Huguenot  occupation  of  Dieppe  and  Havre, 
for  Paris  was  in  danger  of  starving,  once  these  two  keys 
were  assured  to  the  enemy.-®  Almost  simultaneously  the 
government  of  Rouen  was  assumed  by  the  Protestants. 
Before  the  end  of  the  month  Vendome,  Montargis,  Auxerre 
(Champagne),  La  Charite  (Nivernais),  Poitiers,  and  most 
of  the  western  provinces  of  Saintonge  and  Angoumois  had 
declared  for  Conde. 

In  order  to  secure  much  needed  funds  the  Huguenots 
took  charge  of  the  money  in  each  province  under  their  con- 
trol, even  to  the  extent  of  destroying  the  government  reg- 
isters in  the  towns.  On  one  corner  of  a  manuscript  of  the 
correspondence  of  Chantonnay  found  in  the  Archives  na- 
tionales  of  Paris  the  Spanish  king  laconically  wrote  that 
the  Catholics  would  be  better  ofif  were  they  as  active  as  the 
Huguenots.-^  Futile  negotiations  for  peace  were  conducted 
between  the  i8th  and  28th  of  May.  Unless  the  citizens  of 
Paris  were  more  generous  in  their  contributions  it  appeared 
that  the  royalists  would  not  possess  sufificient  ordnance  for 
the  defense  of  the  capital  against  any  Huguenot  assault. 
The  Venetian  ambassador  in  France  recorded  that  at  the 
opening  of  the  first  war  of  religion  the  Catholics  could  mus- 
ter only  twenty-two  pieces  of  artillery.^"  Even  in  the 
middle  of  May  only  twenty-five  cannon  were  available.^^ 
Suriano  is  authority  for  the  information  that  all  the  French 
(Protestant  included)  artillery  and  ammunition  were  of 
uniform  and  convenient  size.^^     On  May  26  the  turncoat 

27  Gachard,  Correspondance  de  Philippe  II  sur  les  Pays  Bas,  vol. 
ii,  pp.  218-221. 

28  Daval,  Jean,  Histoire  de  la  Reforme  a  Dieppe,  1557-1657.  2 
vols.,  Rouen,  1878;  vol.  i,  p.  10. 

29  Archives  Nationales,  K.  1497,  No.  33,  May  2,  1562;  Thompson, 
PM7. 

'°  Relations  .  .  .  venetiens,  vol.  ii,  p.  loi. 

31  Great  Britain,  Cal.  St.  P.  For.,  No.  106,  May  28,  1562. 

32  Suriano,  p.  361.  ' 


579D  "^^^   ARSENAL   OF    PROTESTANTISM  171 

Antoine  of  Bourbon  proclaimed  that  all  Protestants  should 
be  expelled  from  the  capital  and  that  their  possessions  might 
be  confiscated  by  the  financially  embarrassed  Catholic 
bourgeois.^^ 

Parleys  rather  than  fighting  marked  the  cold  month  of 
June,  1562.  On  the  third  of  the  month  Aurillac  in  Au- 
vergne  was  entered  by  the  Huguenots.  On  the  other  hand 
four  thousand  Swiss  from  the  Catholic  cantons  had  enabled 
the  brilliant  cavalry  leader  Tavannes  to  save  the  Burgun- 
dian  cities  of  Chalons-sur-Saone,  Dijon,  and  Macon  for  the 
king.  The  May  negotiations  had  failed  because  the  brother 
of  Coligny,  Odet  cardinal  Chatillon,  protested  to  Catherine 
de  Medicis  that  peace  would  be  impossible  unless  the  Trium- 
virate were  banished  from  court.  A  truce,  ending  June  21, 
was  declared  by  the  opposing  forces  near  Orleans,  com- 
manded by  the  brothers  Conde  and  Navarre.  The  Catholic 
Bourbon  urged  his  brother  to  heed  the  king's  profifer  to 
allow  the  Huguenots  to  remain  unharmed  in  their  homes 
until  a  council  could  settle  the  mooted  questions.  Liberty 
of  conscience  was  promised.  To  Conde's  insistence  that 
the  January  Edict  be  observed  in  Paris  there  was  point- 
blank  refusal.  The  truce  of  Beaugency  terminated  when 
the  Catholics,  presumably  through  the  Triumvirate,  de- 
manded that  Conde,  the  three  Chatillons,  and  all  Huguenot 
officers  and  clergymen  should  be  banished  from  France 
until  Charles  IX  attained  the  age  of  twenty-one,  that  is,  in 
1 571.  Prince  Louis  returned  from  audience  with  the  queen 
to  the  Calvinist  camp,  and  war  commenced  anew  on  June 
29.^*  The  warfare  during  the  several  months  must  have 
been  more  than  fairly  successful  from  the  Huguenot  view- 
point, for  Chantonnay  recorded  on  the  6th  of  June  that  all 
the  horrors  of  the  Goths  had  been  surpassed.^''  On  the  3rd 
of  July  the  prince  of  Conde  captured  Beaugency,  then  re- 
tired towards  Orleans.     The  despatches  of  the  English  am- 

33  Great  Britain,  Cal.  St.  P.  For.,  No.  107;  Conde,  vol.  iii,  p.  462; 

Archives  Nationale,  K.  1497,  No.  36. 
3*  Weill,  p.  107. 
'5  Lettenhove,  p.  79. 


172  FRENCH    protestantism:    I559-I562  [580 

bassador  of  the  date  of  July  12,  1562,  were  to  the  effect 
that  the  inhabitants  of  Caen,  Bayeux,  and  most  of  the  places 
in  lower  Normandy  were  defacing  images  and  intercepting 
the  king's  revenues.^^  Montbrison  in  Auvergne,  one  of  the 
less  noted  parts  of  the  theatre  of  war,  was  attacked  on  July 
13  by  Adrets,  and  in  the  account  we  read  that  it  was  pil- 
laged for  two  days  by  four  thousand  soldiers.^^  On  the 
twenty-first  of  the  month  the  duke  d'Aumale  took  Honfleur 
for  the  king.  In  the  same  Norman  province  the  city  of 
Rouen  was  such  a  hotbed  of  Calvinism  that  Charles  IX 
issued  a  declaration  transferring  the  Rouennais  Parlement 
to  Louviers.^^  Less  than  twenty-four  hours  separated  the 
last  two  episodes.  The  king  ordered  Baron  Castelnau  to 
make  a  magazine  of  the  Seine  valley  as  far  as  Havre,  but  on 
both  sides  of  the  river  all  Normandy  was  waste.  Trade 
was  dead.  Many  of  both  sects  lived  in  caves.  It  was  in 
vain  that  Aumale  offered  to  relieve  the  peasants  from  all 
taxes  and  dangled  visions  of  the  sack  and  loot  of  chateaux. 
In  late  July  St.  Andre  captured  the  capitals  of  Poitou  and 
Angoumois,  while  the  duke  of  Guise  further  north  was  sub- 
duing the  Touraine  towns  of  Chinon  and  Loudun."  In 
the  meanwhile  Aumale  had  been  commissioned  at  the  in- 
stance of  the  Triumvirate  to  levy  necessary  troops  to  per- 
petuate the  Catholic  cause  in  Burgundy,  Champagne,  and 
Brie.  During  the  closing  days  of  the  month  6000  lansque- 
nets were  marching  across  the  Ile-de-France  to  Blois.  To 
assist  Joyeuse,  lieutenant-governor  of  Languedoc,  the  Ro- 
man pontiff  Pius  IV  despatched  his  own  nephew  at  the 
head  of  2500  troops.*"  About  the  same  time  Roggendorf, 
the  famous  Catholic  recruiter,  arrived  in  France  with  twelve 
hundred  pistoleers  from  Germany.  Encamped  in  Cham- 
pagne were  the  Rhinegrave,  with  two  hundred  pistoleers 
and  two  regiments  of  infantry,  and  the  Swiss  captain  Froe- 
lich,  commanding  fifteen  Helvetian  ensigns. 

3^  Great  Britain,  Cal.  St.  P.  For.,  No.  303,  July  12,  1562. 

3''  Duparcq,  Charles  IX,  p.  152. 

^^  Conde,  vol.  iii,  p.  524. 

39  Archives  de  la  Gironde,  vol.  xvii,  p.  270. 

*°  Negociations  toscanes,  vol.  iii,  p.  492. 


58 1  ]  THE   ARSENAL   OF   PROTESTANTISM  173 

One  writer  divides  the  internal  troubles  of  mid-year,  1562, 
into  six  parts:  (i)  Dauphiny;  (2)  Provence;  (3)  Langue- 
doc;  (4)  Perigord,  Limousin,  Agenois ;  (5)  Anjou;  (6) 
Bretagne.^^  The  first  three  represent  the  southern  theatre, 
the  fourth  the  southwest,  and  the  last  two  the  far  north- 
west. When  the  war  broke  out  the  Roman  Catholics  in  the 
northwest  arose  against  the  Protestants,  with  the  spirit 
which  animated  La  Vendee  during  the  Revolution:  in  the 
southwest  the  Huguenots  took  the  initiative.  August  seems 
to  have  been  noteworthy  chiefly  for  the  siege  of  Bourges, 
in  Berry,  by  the  Catholics.  Inside  the  town  were  3500 
Huguenot  defenders  with  sufficient  food  but  no  superior 
ordnance.  The  garrison  was  anxiously  awaiting  succor 
from  D'Andelot,  who  had  crossed  the  Rhine  to  obtain  as- 
sistance. The  Protestant  leanings  of  this  younger  brother 
of  Coligny  had  so  angered  the  king  during  one  interview 
that  it  was  reported  that  the  monarch  hurled  a  plate  at  his 
head.*^  At  this  crisis  his  effort  to  bring  in  German  cavalry 
was  too  late  by  three  weeks  to  save  Bourges,  which  capitu- 
lated on  the  last  day  of  August.*^  Philip  of  Spain  grum- 
bled at  the  reasonable  terms  of  surrender,  which  included 
the  assurance  of  life,  property,  and  liberty  of  conscience  to 
all  the  soldiers  and  civilians  of  the  town  in  exchange  for 
50,000  livres.  Surely  those  of  the  Reform  would  never 
thus  have  entrusted  themselves  to  Monluc  in  Guyenne  or 
to  Cursol  in  Languedoc.  The  racy  memoirs  of  IMonluc 
inform  us  that  in  many  towns  the  Protestant  ministers 
promised  the  king's  soldiers  heaven,  if  they  would  desist, 
and  the  author  adds  that  many  actually  accepted  the  offer, 
especially  at  Montauban.** 

The  Protestants  were  in  daily  expectation  of  the  arrival 
of  the  German  pistoleers  and  footmen  who  were  to  be  led 
by  Casimir,  second  son  of  the  Count  Palatine.  The  foreign 
princes  were  so  tardy  in  their  response  that  Louis  of  Conde 

<i  Duparcq,  Henri  II,  vol.  ii,  p.  157. 
*2  Hanna,  p.  38. 

^3  Raynal,  Histoire  du  Berry,  4  vols.,  Bourges,  1844-47;  vol.  iv; 
Kegociations   toscanes,   vol.   iii,   p.  494. 
■**  Monluc,  Commentaires,  p.  220. 


174  FRENCH  protestantism:  1559-1562  [582 

tried  to  stimulate  activity  by  promising  their  troops  the  pil- 
lage of  Paris.*°  Under  these  circumstances  the  first  ava- 
lanche of  the  fearsome  reiters  descended  upon  France.  On 
September  22, 1562,  ten  troops  of  cavalry  (2600)  and  twelve 
battalions  of  lansquenets  (3000)  crossed  the  Rhine  under 
the  command  of  Hesse,  whom  Castelnau  considered  a  very 
indifferent  soldier.^®  It  was  the  long  expected  force  of 
D'Andelot.  The  day  before  Monluc  for  the  king  had  cap- 
tured Agen,  in  Lower  Guyenne.*^  On  the  twenty-fourth 
the  English  proclamation  for  the  expedition  into  Normandy 
was  promulgated,  one  fortnight  subsequent  to  the  signing 
of  the  treaty  of  Hampton  Court  by  Elizabeth  of  England 
and  the  Prince  of  Conde.  September  saw  the  Protestants 
enter  Lyons  and  abandon  the  siege  of  Pertuis,  while  Sis- 
teron,  one  of  the  keys  of  Provence,  was  retaken  by  the 
Catholics. 

On  October  i  the  English  set  sail  for  Havre  and  the  place 
was  occupied  three  days  later.  Fifty  miles  up  the  Seine 
the  troops  of  Aumale  had  been  besieging  Rouen  for  over  a 
month,  while  the  vacillating  policy  of  the  English  govern- 
ment refused  to  allow  the  earl  of  Warwick  to  leave  the 
coast  to  succor  the  beleaguered  town.  The  theory  of  Cas- 
telnau was  that  Rouen  could  have  been  captured  in  twenty- 
four  hours  by  the  Catholics,  but  the  king  and  the  chan- 
cellor would  not  hear  of  it,  because  the  trades  of  the  town 
would  expect  full  satisfaction  and  guarantee  from  the  sov- 
ereign.*^ On  Friday,  the  i6th  of  October,  Montgomery, 
the  defender  of  the  town,  parleyed  with  Catherine  and 
Damville,  second  son  of  the  constable  Montmorency.  The 
Huguenots  proposed  that  the  edict  of  January  should  be 
amended  to  include  Calvinist  preaching  inside,  as  well  as 
outside,  of  the  French  cities.^^  Simultaneously  the  royal 
government  was  treating  with  the  prince  of  Conde,  stipu- 
lating that  town  worship  was  to  be  confined  to  Huguenot 


45  Conde,  vol.  iii,  p.  630. 

■*^  Castelnau,  p.  171. 

*^  Conde,  vol.  ii,  p.  20. 

*^  Castelnau,  p.  174. 

<9  Great  Britain,  Cal.  St.  P.  For.,  No.  901,  Oct.  23,  1562. 


583II  THE   ARSENAL   OF   PROTESTANTISM  1 75 

homes.  The  counter  proposal  to  Conde's  suggestion  that  in 
the  event  of  peace  the  king  should  reimburse  the  reiters 
on  the  Protestant  side,  was  that  both  German  auxiliaries 
and  Huguenot  troops  should  first  drive  the  English  from 
French  soil.  In  each  case  the  opponents  were  hopelessly 
far  from  a  compromise.  Three  days  following  the  truce 
arranged  by  Montgomery,  Charles  IX  issued  an  order  pro- 
claiming pardon  to  all  who  would  assist  in  expelling  the 
English  and  Germans.^"  Meanwhile  great  breaches  had 
been  caused  in  the  walls  of  Rouen  by  mines  and  large  shot 
and  through  these  the  Catholic  Germans  and  French 
swarmed  on  October  26.  The  sack  was  terrible.  For  eight 
days  the  city  was  plundered,  especially  by  the  courtiers,  gen- 
erally the  "greatest  harpies."  Eventually  the  order  was 
given  to  leave  the  town,  but  the  "  French  suffered  them- 
selves to  be  killed  rather  than  quit  the  place  while  there  was 
anything  left !  "^^  The  crimes  committed  at  this  siege  made 
a  deep  impression  upon  the  remainder  of  the  kingdom. 
When  Joyeuse,  lieutenant-governor  of  Languedoc,  mar- 
shalled all  the  Catholic  forces  of  his  province  and  of  Prov- 
ence for  an  assault  upon  Montpellier,  in  the  far  south  of 
France,  all  its  citizens  rushed  to  the  defense,  regardless  of 
religion.^2  At  Rouen,  Pastor  Marlorat  and  two  elders  of 
the  Reformed  church  were  officially  executed  at  the  conclu- 
sion of  the  siege. 

November  was  noteworthy  for  Conde's  march  upon  Paris. 
The  Catholic  historian  Aumale  admits  that  the  prince  could 
have  captured  Paris  had  he  pressed  forward  on  November 
28.^'  The  lost  chance  did  not  occur  again.  The  rapid 
march  upon  the  capital  had  found  many  of  the  royal  sol- 
diers on  a  furlough,  with  only  meagre  rations  stored  in  the 
city.  In  order  to  oiifset  their  unpreparedness  Catherine  and 
the  Guises  played  for  time.  At  Etampes,  where  the  prince's 
cavalry  arrived  on  November  25,  Conde  was  cajoled  with 

50  Conde,  vol.  iv,  p.  38. 

51  Castelnau,  p.  174. 
"  Ibid.,  p.  188. 

53  Aumale,  p.  145. 


176  FRENCH    protestantism:    I559-I562  [584 

peace  overtures.  On  his  part  the  Bourbon  leader  claimed 
the  position  of  lieutenant-governor  of  France  and  proposed 
several  modified  demands  along  lines  of  religious  toleration. 
In  the  first  instance,  Huguenot  preaching  was  to  be  allowed 
in  the  suburbs  of  frontier  towns,  or  in  several  designated 
ones ;  secondly,  these  sermons  should  be  delivered  only  in 
those  towns  where  they  had  been  permitted  prior  to  the  out- 
break of  hostilities ;  thirdly,  all  nobles  and  gentlemen  might 
lawfully  hold  private  services  in  their  own  houses ;  finally, 
those  persons  residing  in  places  where  preaching  was  not 
allowed  should  be  permitted  to  proceed  to  the  nearest  towns 
or  other  places  for  the  exercise  of  their  religion,  without 
molestation.  In  reply,  the  government  excepted  Paris  and 
its  suburbs  from  these  conditions,  but  consented  to  consider 
Lyons  as  an  interior  rather  than  a  frontier  city.^* 

It  was  not  until  the  3rd  of  December  that  the  government 
and  Conde  accepted  these  articles.  Suddenly  the  royalists 
terminated  the  negotiations.  To  everyone  but  Conde  the 
reason  was  obvious.  Paris  during  the  truce  had  been  so 
replenished  with  Gascons  and  Spaniards  that  more  than 
fifteen  thousand  troops  were  now  available.  Conde,  with 
less  than  half  that  number,  felt  compelled  to  withdraw 
towards  Normandy  and  sought  to  effect  a  junction  with 
the  earl  of  Warwick.  In  the  several  weeks  preceding  De- 
cember 9,  the  date  of  Conde's  withdrawal  from  Paris,  the 
Huguenot  operations  had  been  chiefly  in  Normandy,  where 
they  had  taken  St.  L6,  Vire,  Bayeux,  Dieppe,  and  Honfleur.^^ 
Brissac  suggested  that  the  king  move  the  army  of  Guise 
from  the  siege  of  Orleans  to  Normandy  before  all  the  mari- 
time ports  should  fall  into  English  hands.  Unfortunately 
the  prince  of  Conde  was  south  of  the  Seine.  To  join  War- 
wick he  must  cross  the  river,  which  was  guarded  at  Poissy 
by  Francis  of  Guise  and  at  Pont  de  I'Arche,  near  Rouen, 
by  Villebon  and  the  Rhinegrave.  On  the  19th  of  Decem- 
ber, 1562,  while  Conde's  forces  were  endeavoring  to  cross 

"*  Beza,  Histoire  des  eglises  reformees,  vol.  ii,  p.  121,  ed.  1841. 
*s  Castelnau,  p.  223, 


585]  THE   ARSENAL   OF    PROTESTANTISM  177 

the  river  Eure,  a  branch  of  the  Seine,  the  famous  battle  of 
Dreux  was  begun. 

Duparcq  estimated  that  at  the  time  of  this  battle,  the  royal 
armies  comprised  55,000  men  in  the  field,  with  an  additional 
45,000  in  the  different  garrisons.^^  Castelnau  is  authority 
for  the  figures  at  Dreux.  The  royal  army,  according  to 
him,  had  14,000  infantry  and  2000  cavalry;  Conde,  8000 
foot  soldiers  and  4000  horsemen."  Throckmorton,  the 
English  ambassador,  recorded  that  there  were  6000  French 
infantry  and  2000  native  cavalry,  besides  3500  reiters  and 
4000  lansquenets  from  Germany.  Accepting  this  higher 
estimate  the  Calvinists  were  yet  inferior  in  numbers  to  the 
Catholics.  Furthermore,  the  Protestants  were  wasting  their 
strength  upon  local  enterprises  scattered  about  the  provinces. 
The  effect  of  concentration  in  one  or  two  main  drives  of 
the  military  resources  of  2150  parishes  would  have  been 
incalculable.  The  history  of  the  periods  of  Louis  XIV  and 
Napoleon  would  probably  read  quite  differently  had  the 
Huguenots,  by  the  addition  of  several  thousand  native 
soldiers,  won  a  decisive  victory  in  the  battle  of  Dreux. 

The  duke  of  Guise  commanded  the  advance  guard  of  the 
Catholics  against  Admiral  Coligny  for  the  Protestants ;  the 
main  army  of  the  former  was  led  by  St.  Andre,  opposed  by 
D'Andelot  and  his  reiters,  who  had  received  no  wages  for 
three  months.^®  The  two  rear  guards  were  commanded, 
respectively,  by  the  constable  Montmorency  and  Conde.  At 
the  outset  the  Huguenot  cavalry  under  Coligny  captured 
Montmorency,  who  was  despatched  to  Orleans,  the  Protest- 
ant capital.  The  lumbering  reiters  of  D'Andelot  supported 
the  next  charge  so  clumsily  that  the  prince  of  Conde,  un- 
horsed, was  left  a  prisoner  in  the  Catholic  array.  Although 
the  strife  was  so  fierce  that  the  commander  of  each  rear 
guard  was  captured  by  the  enemy,  the  Huguenot  infantry 
lost  the  day  by  retiring  in  disorder  without  making  even  a 


56  Duparcq,  Charles  IX,  p.  548. 

5'^  Castelnau,  vol.  iv,  p.  205. 

G8  Great  Britain,  Cal.  St.  P.  For.,  No.  16,  Jan.  3,  1563. 


12 


178  FRENCH    protestantism:    I559-I562  [586 

charge.  A  priest  estimated  the  Protestant  losses  at  over 
6000,  the  Catholic  at  one-third  that  number.^^  But  the  dis- 
solution of  the  famous  Triumvirate  now  began.  St.  Andre 
fell  in  this  battle,  while  the  constable  was  made  a  prisoner. 
Within  two  months  the  great  Francis  of  Guise  fell  under 
the  dagger  of  the  assassin  Poltrot.^" 

On  the  8th  of  March,  1563,  eleven  weeks  after  the  battle 
of  Dreux,  Conde  and  Montmorency  were  simultaneously 
released  from  captivity.  As  men  of  the  hour,  now  that  Guise 
was  dead,  their  counsel  was  necessary  in  the  peace  overtures. 
On  March  19  Charles  IX  formally  decreed  religious  tolera- 
tion. Prince  Louis  of  Conde,  the  Bourbon,  "one  of  the 
arms  of  the  [king's]  body,""^  with  whom  the  temptations 
used  upon  his  brother  Navarre  had  been  of  no  avail,^^  was 
appointed  lieutenant-general  of  the  realm.^^  This  Peace  of 
Amboise,  March  19,  1563,  terminated  the  first  of  the  four 
civil  wars  of  religion  in  France. 

59  Haton,  vol.  i,  p.  311. 

60  A  contemporaneous  cavalry  leader  recorded  in  his  memoirs  sev- 
eral remarkable  happenings  at  Dreux :  the  generosity  of  the  Swiss, 
and  their  great  proofs  of  valor ;  the  long  patience  of  Guise  in  attain- 
ing the  decision ;  a  five-hour  battle,  instead  of  one  of  the  usual 
duration  of  one-third  the  time ;  the  taking  as  prisoners  of  two  rival 
generals.  (La  Noue,  p.  605.)  Moreover  it  seems  to  have  been  evi- 
dence of  mutual  exhaustion  that  news  of  the  battle,  which  terminated 
at  dusk  on  one  of  the  shortest  days  of  the  year,  did  not  reach  Paris, 
only  twelve  leagues  distant,  until  3  A.  M.  Six  hours  later,  on  the 
quiet  Sabbath  morning,  Sieur  de  Losses  rode  through  the  St.  Honore 
gate,  crying:  "Guise  has  won  the  battle;  Conde  is  prisoner!" 
(Vieilleville,  p.  323.)  The  chronicler  of  this  information,  Vieille- 
ville,  accepted  the  marshal's  baton,  succeeding  St.  Andre,  killed  in 
action. 

61  Lettenhove,  p.  80. 

62  Aumale,  p.  94. 

63  Great  Britain,  Gal.  St.  P.  For.,  No.  473,  March,  1563. 


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NDEX 


Admiral  of  France,  jurisdiction 
of,  38. 

Africa,  French  commerce  with, 
54,  59- 

Algeria,  French  commerce  with, 
54. 

Amboise,  peace  of,   117. 

Antoine  of  Navarre,  124;  char- 
acter,   135. 

Arabia,  commerce  with,  60. 

Aries,  atrocities  in,  no. 

Artillery,  83;  supply,  170. 

Associations,  political,  78. 

Association  of  Orleans,  80. 

Bankers,  Huguenot,  47. 

Bayonne,  commerce,  52. 

Bibliography,  179. 

Bodin,  Jean,  quoted  on  com- 
merce, 58. 

Boulogne,  commerce,  51. 

Bordeaux,  fairs  at,  43 ;  com- 
merce, 51. 

Brazil  as  Protestant  colony,  39. 

Brittanny  and  reform,  125. 

Calvinists,    organization   of,  69- 

87. 
Canals,  17. 

Cateau  Cambresis,  treaty  of,  161. 
Catherine  de  Medicis,  character, 

130;  relation  to  reform,  134. 
Catholic  League,  78. 
Cavalry,   Huguenot,  83. 
Clergy,  catholic,  TZ- 
Clergy     and    the     Reformation, 

100. 
Coinage  of   Protestants,  47. 
Coins,   values   of,   47- 
Clothing,  cost  of,  25. 
Coligny,  political   ideals  of,  38; 

colonial  enterprises,  63 ;  battle 

of  Dreux,   177.^ 
Colloquies,  ecclesiastical,  71. 
Colonization,  Huguenot,  39. 
Commerce,  foreign,  44;  of  Prot- 
estants,     52;       France      and 

Europe,  64. 


Commercial  classes,  40. 

Compiegne,  edict  of,  88. 

Conde,  Louis,  Prince  of,  de- 
mands freedom  of  worship, 
107;  character,  141;  leader  of 
the  Huguenots,  167;  military 
activity,  169;  march  on  Paris, 
175 ;  peace  overtures,  176 ;  cap- 
ture, 177;  lieutenant  general, 
178. 

Consistories,  powers  of,  71. 

Consular  system,  origins,  57. 

Cost  of  living,  13,  21. 

Costume,  sixteenth  century,  26; 
military,  85. 

Dauphiny,  reform  in,  113. 

Dieppe,  Reformation  begins,  39; 
commerce,  51. 

Dijon,  commerce,  52. 

Discipline,    mililtary.    Huguenot, 

85. 
Dreux,  battle  of,  i77- 

Ecclesiastical  divisions.  Hugue- 
not, 69. 

Economic  discontent,   11. 

Ecouan,   edict  of,  88. 

Edict  of  Pacification,  1563,  79- 

Edicts  against  Protestants,  88- 
92. 

Elders,  powers  01,  7i- 

Elizabeth  of  England,  policy,  50. 

England  and  French  reform, 
121 ;    assists    the    Huguenots, 

174-  .  ,     . 

Fairs,     commercial     importance, 

42. 

Financial  measures  of  Hugue- 
nots, 48. 

Flanders,  commerce  with,  ^', 
relations  with  French  reform- 
ers, 119. 

Forest  products,  24. 

France,  public  debt,  13. 

Francis  H,  146;  death,  IS5- 

Germany  and  French  reform, 
123,  147- 


183 


i84 


INDEX 


[592 


Gold  and  silver  values,  31. 

Granvella,  Cardinal,   119. 

Greek  allies  of  Catholics, 

Guilds,  see  trade  corporations. 

Guise  Francis  of,  138. 

Guise,  powers  of  the  house  of, 
137;  their  system  of  govern- 
ment, 143;  relations  with  Italy, 
144;  with  Spain,  145;  with 
Scotland,  146;  Beza's  epithet, 
140;  illegality  of  rule,  150; 
financial  policy,  151 ;  venality 
of  justice,  152;  consequences, 
153;  religious  policy,  159. 

Guise  or  Valois,  contest,  137-162. 

Hampton  Court  Treaty,  50. 

Harfleur,   commerce,    51. 

Henry  H,  expenditures  of,  9; 
financial  expedients,  12 ;  rela- 
tions with  the  Protestants,  39; 
death,  89. 

Holy  days,  economic  effect,  22, 
32. 

Housmg,  cost  of,  30- 

Huguenot,  origin  of  word,  116. 

Huguenots,  resources  of,  38-68; 
classes  of,  81 ;  numbers  of, 
103-105;  friends  and  foes,  118- 
136. 

Image  breaking,  105. 
Industrial  history,  periods,  40. 
Inquisition,        introduction        in 
France,  160. 

January,  edict  of,  90,  164. 

Labor,  hours  of,  33. 

Land  values,  29. 

Languedoc,    reform   in,    114. 

La  Rochelle,  commerce,  51. 

Leagues,  Catholic,  78. 

Levant,  French  commerce  with, 

56. 
L'Hopital,  M.  de,  chancellor,  89. 
Lorraine,    Cardinal,    138,    hatred 

of,  151 ;  as  a  preacher,  155,  as 

a  theologian,  276. 
Lyons,  fairs  at,  43 ;  printing,  45 ; 

Protestantism     in,     45 ;     mass 

abolished,  107. 
Mary,  Queen  of  Scots,  146. 
Marseilles,  commerce,  52. 
Metz,  Protestants  in,  120. 


Military  organization,  Protestant, 

82. 
Military  budget,  Protestant,  86. 
Militia,  guild  duties  in,  35. 
Monluc,   Blaise  de,  violence   of, 

168,  173. 

Navarre,    Antonie    of,    see    An- 

toine. 
Navarre,  population,  65. 
Nobility    and    the    Reforrnation, 

98-100. 
Normandy,  reform  in,  112. 

Orleans,  guild  ordinance  of,  36; 
commerce,  52;  center  of  Prot- 
estantism, 70;  association  of, 
80;  university  of,  95. 

Paris,  population  and  housing, 
30;  university  of,  95;  first 
Protestant  church  in,  115; 
seige  of,  166. 

Pasquier,  on  reform,  108. 

Peasantry  and  the  Reformation, 

lOI. 

Philip  II,  power  of,  128;  sup- 
ports French  Catholics,  129- 
130,  145- 

Piracy  in  the  Mediterranean,  68. 

Plague,  bubonic,  27. 

Pontoise,  States  General  of,  156. 

Poissy,  colloquiy  of,  156. 

Poor  relief.  Huguenot,  72. 

Population,  29. 

Postal  routes,  118. 

Preaching,  Huguenot  and  Catho- 
lic compared,  112. 

Printing    trade,    66;    Protestant, 

77- 

Protective  policy,  France,  67. 

Protestantism,  official  begin- 
nings, 69;  the  arsenal  of,  163- 
178. 

Protestants,  financial  system,  48; 
numbers  in  France,  48;  com- 
mercial expeditions,  S3',  classes 
in  France,  81,  97. 

Provence,  reform  in,   113. 

Provinces,  ecclesiastical,  70. 

Provinces,  comparative  strength 
of  reform,  112. 

Public  debt,  13. 

Reform  at  its  height,  8&-117. 


593] 


INDEX 


185 


Reformation  in  France,   reasons 

for,  92-95 
Roads,  16. 
Rouen,   commerce,   51 ;    sack   of, 

175- 
Rome  aids  French  Catholics,  127. 
Romorantin,  edict  of,  89;  effect, 

III. 

Sacrament,  Huguenot  adminis- 
tration of,  72,  74. 

St.  Malo,  commerce,  51. 

Salt  tax,  24. 

Savoy,  ally  of  Catholics,  126. 

Scandinavia,  reform  in,  121,  was 
in,  148. 

Schools,  Protestant,  75. 

Scotland,  relations  with  France, 
146. 

Silver  and  gold  values,  31. 

Social  and  economic  forces,  9-37. 

Soldiers,  pay  of  Protestant,  86. 

South  America,  French  com- 
merce with,  56. 

Spain  commerce  with,  65. 

Strasburg,  reform  in,   121. 

Sudan,  French  commerce  with, 
62. 

Sumptuary  laws,  10,  67. 

Suriano  on  reform,  116. 


Switzerland  and  French  reform, 

122. 
Synods,  powers  of,  71. 

Tavannes,  Gaspard,  military  ac- 
tivity, 167,  171. 

Toleration,  edict  of,  1562,  164; 
decree  of  March,  1563,  178. 

Toulouse,  commerce,  52. 

Trade  corporations,  32;  reforms 
in,  36. 

Transportation,  cost  of,  16; 
water,  17. 

Travel,  expense  of,  16. 

Treves,   Protestants   in,    121. 

Triumvirate,  the  CathoUc,  172, 
178. 

Turkey,  French  treaties  with,  56. 

Universities  and  the  Reforma- 
tion, 95. 

\'alence,  university  of,  96. 
Vassy,  massacre  of,  107,  148,  164. 
Vaudois,  116. 
Wages,  34. 
War  finance,  86. 
Wine  production,  20. 
Women,  education  of,  76. 
Worship,  right  of,  81. 


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A  Study  in  American  Diplomacy 

By  ISAAC  JOSLIN  COX 

Attociate  Profecior  of  History,  University  of  Cincinnati 

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for  publication.  The  subject  involves  one  of  the  most  intricate  prob- 
lems in  American  history,  and  Professor  Cox  has  spared  no  pains 
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availed  himself  of  the  collections  in  Washington  and  of  the 
material  in  the  Department  of  Archives  and  History  at  Jackson, 
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and  bitter  controversy  that  was  waged  over  West  Florida. 


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